


Lesser Heroes

by Dmnq8



Category: Naruto
Genre: Drama, F/M, Family, Humor, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-12
Updated: 2014-07-31
Packaged: 2017-11-07 05:51:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 37,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/427626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dmnq8/pseuds/Dmnq8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isolated events in the lives of the lesser heroes we know and love. Periodically, I may add stand-alone chaps to this 'verse. The chaps might be loosely connected, as is the case with this one and the one before it, but nothing as involved as an ongoing storyline or anything like that.</p><p>Sequel to Be My Hero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_The morning after…_  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The persistent ringing of his phone woke Sasuke. He did so grudgingly, his body and mind protesting until the simple act of opening his eyes was torture. Naruto's heavy arm lay over his throat, one leg clamped around him. He didn't have the strength to lift his head, much less fight his way free of that embrace. By the time he literally crawled out of the hallway and into the living room where his phone sat shaking on the floor, he was quivering with the effort.

He knew who it was before he answered via the ringtone. "H'lo?"

"Fucking hell, Sasuke! Where the _fuck_ have you been, I've been calling all morning!" Itachi sounded both relieved and pissed.

Sasuke dropped his forehead to the floor, dizzy. "Here."

"Where the fuck's _here?_ "

"Mountain. With Naruto."

"So he brought his ass home."

"Uh huh."

" _Better_ had. You good, man?"

"Uh huh."

"What, you sleeping?"

"Uh huh."

"Hmph. Sounds like you got your brains fucked out. All right, well. I'm off to work. Next time answer your fucking phone. Jackass."

The phone went dead in his ear. A large, warm, sticky mass suddenly settled against his back as he was stretching out on the floor, but it was only Naruto. "I'm late for work," he rumbled around a yawn.

Sasuke saw the time on his phone. It was nearly noon. "Yeah, you are."

"I'm not going in."

This statement was met with them both curling up right there and going back to sleep.  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Six months later…_  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

He'd learned that Sakura's frowns were merely a side effect of her professionalism, not an indication that something was wrong. Still, Itachi held his breath until she was done.

"Still in pain?" she asked as her hands went back to a spot she'd already checked.

"Yeah. Pretty much just stays with me."

"Bad?" Over to another spot she'd also checked twice before.

He liked that she was thorough. "Not usually, no. Low-grade ache when I wake up in the morning, or if I've worked overtime. Manageable. Sometimes it's not even there."

She was finally done, and allowed him to sit up on the examining table. "You'll probably experience some pain for the remainder of your life. Your intestines were the worst. Expect some flare ups there, but see me at once if you notice blood in your stool, or if there is pain or difficulty defecating."

He nodded. "Rest of my life, huh? Small price to pay for Akatsuki gone. So am I all right?"

"What do you mean?" She looked up from where she'd been marking this visit's results in his file.

"I mean how long do you see me living? I got a family to support, people counting on me."

He was serious, she saw. And worried. He hid it well, but it was in the tense way he supported his weight on the hands he had braced on the edge of the table. She closed his file and tilted her head, choosing her words carefully.

"I believe in being honest with my patients," she said. His face tightened, but he nodded again. "And I don't believe in sugar-coating the truth." Another tight nod. "It's my opinion that medics who lie only do their patients a disservice; if one doesn't know the full extent of their illness or disease, they won't take proper care of themselves."

"I got you. So…how long?" His eyes didn't blink.

"I'm getting to that. I want you to hear me and believe what I say, Itachi, because people who persist in thinking they know better than their physicians do _themselves_ a disservice. Their health can actually worsen with negative thinking. That said, it is my professional opinion that you will live a long, active, and healthy life. You suffered a great trauma, yes. However, the ones who did it were careful to try and keep you alive, which helped me to save you. They did it only to prolong your pain, but it also worked in our favor. You're a strong man. No vices, no addictions. That also helped. Lastly, I am _very_ good at what I do. You would not be living anywhere but in a hospital, under my constant supervision, unless I thought you were well. And you are. You have scars and some pain, but as you said it's a small price to pay. Had anyone else treated you, you'd be dead or crippled. Rest assured, you're fine, and will continue to be so, provided you don't walk out in front of a bus. All right?" She smiled. "You can stop scheduling these appointments unless something drastic goes wrong."

Itachi smiled too, finally believing it. "Yeah, all right. Can't be too careful though."

"Yes, well, it seems you've gotten your wife to think the same thing. She's made an appointment with me for tomorrow. Is she sick?"

"Not that I know of."

"Hm. Well, you're good to go."  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I'm home!" Itachi yelled when he unlocked his door twenty minutes later.

Ichi came thundering from the back of the apartment. Kayo followed at an equal pace in her walker, little legs pumping furiously. He bent and scooped them up as the toilet flushed.

Moegi emerged from the bathroom, her tired face wreathed in smiles. "You're late." She stood on tiptoe for his kiss, then squealed as he managed to lift her up with the kids to kiss her again.

"Check-up," he said when he set her down again.

"Problem?" She took Kayo and deposited her in her high chair.

"Nope. Sakura says I'm good." He washed his hands at the kitchen sink, before sitting down to the set table. "What's up with you? Said you got an appointment for tomorrow."

"Ugh, nothing. Just been feeling a bit blah. I really just want Sakura to give me some vitamins, something not sold at Nara Drugs. I think these kids are getting to me."

Itachi had to agree. Having two so close together was a headache, and he hadn't even been the one to shoot them out. "Need me to take a few days off?" He smacked Ichi's hand. Kid was throwing the food instead of eating it, and Kayo was copying him. "Can ask my boss…"

"No, we need the money. Let's just see what Sakura says."

Ichi roared at being smacked, threw noodles at Itachi, and was summarily picked up and dropped in his crib by his father, where he proceeded to scream at the top of his lungs. Itachi shut his bedroom door. "Goddamn brat."

-oOo-

Later, once both kids were asleep, Itachi lay in bed reading while Moegi washed up before turning in. He tilted a corner of the newspaper down when he heard her come in the room, then folded and lowered it completely at seeing her lurking in the doorway.

"Hmm." He set the paper aside and sat up. "Someone's feeling friendly tonight."

Moegi ducked her head. She was wearing drawstring pants and a loose T-shirt, the better to hide all her unsexy bulges and flabby stomach. Itachi had never been one to prefer make-up and lingerie, not that he minded those things, but he loved her unconditionally, no matter what she looked like. It was one of the things she adored most about him. Even now, dressed in frumpy house clothes, his eyes kindled when he looked at her. And he always seemed to know when she was horny. Smiling, she peeked at him through her hair. "How can you tell?"

"Because I know _you_ ," he said as he reached her. He nuzzled at her neck, making her cringe and giggle. "You get that look on your face."

"What look?" Her head went back as her body weakened with rising desire. "I don't have a look."

"Yeah, you do. That look where your chin goes down." He nipped her chin. "And you look at me with those big eyes." He kissed her eyes. "And you bite your lip in that way you do." He pecked her lips, but she held his head down for more. He pulled back when she was breathless. "Damn, woman."

"Been waiting for you all day," she growled. She started pushing him toward the bed.

"All day? Really?"

"Yes. Get naked."

He ignored her for the moment, knowing it drove her wild. "Been having dirty thoughts about me?"

"I always have dirty thoughts about you." She gave a last shove and Itachi fell backward on the mattress. She landed on top of him, straddling him as she unzipped his denim shirt with impatient hands.

"What kind of thoughts? Thoughts about ravaging me? Rape? Oh, _Mo!_ " he squealed in a high voice.

"Just thoughts. Stop it!"

He stopped trying to restrain her hands and let his shirt be yanked open. She bent immediately and bit him…right before he rolled them fast and had her pinned completely. He held her hands down. "What kind of thoughts?" His erection settled against the wild heat between her thighs, and she stilled at once. He pressed against that heat when she clenched her teeth in silence. "Tell me."

"It's dumb."

She turned her head aside, but he kept pressing rhythmically, not quite as hard as he knew she wanted him to, until her face reddened in frustrated desire. He bent his head to her exposed neck and licked a trail to her ear, where he whispered, "Might as well tell. I'm not going to stop. C'mon, pleeeaase? I'll let you rape me afterward."

She bucked and thrashed her head in a fury of sudden movement, but he kept hold of her. Her body went limp, already tired. "Fine," she hissed. "I think about…your face."

That had him leaning up to laugh at her. "My face? That does it for you? Why, you shallow broad!"

"Stop acting like you don't know you're beautiful. Conceited fuck."

Smile gone, he was honestly flattered. He'd never considered his looks as they might be perceived by women. "So I'm beautiful?" He bat his eyelashes at her, fluttering them wildly. "What else?"

"I think how smart you are is hot." She wiggled her hips, wanting more pressure. "Itachi…" her voice went soft and plaintive, tired of the questioning now.

"Didn't realize my brains turned you on, but that can't be all you think about?"

"Let go of me."

"Spill."

It was never wise to restrain a former ANBU for too long. Moegi freed one hand and slapped at him, grabbing his ponytail, but he had the hand down again. He pressed hard against her groin a moment. She shivered at once, groaning in surrender. "I think about when you do me hard and slow," she gasped. "And I just keep coming and coming, and c-"

Itachi took both her hands in one of his and used his other to slip down the front of her pants. He found her drenched and swollen and ready.

Her body arched on the two fingers he slid into her slick depths, even as her legs spread to lift around his waist. She writhed beneath him, panting, moaning, keening as he worked his hand the way he'd learned-

His cell rang.

"Leave it," she screamed.

That was the ringtone for Sasuke. His head dropped to her heaving chest. "I can't." He rolled off her. "He might need me."

"You always think that. Kid's taller than you are, and he's got Naruto."

"He's my brother."

Moegi refrained from commenting further. Sasuke was the one thing she couldn't change about Itachi, and she never tried. She might complain now and then, but that was as far as she took it. If she ever tried to come between her husband and his brother, she'd lose him. She knew it instinctively. Itachi could be bleeding to death, or about to fuck, or otherwise legitimately occupied, and he would answer the phone when Sasuke called. She loved him anyway, even if she wasn't first priority for him, because she understood that they were so much a part of each other that they might as well be the same being.

She finally let go of him and rolled on her side. "By all means."

Itachi snatched the phone off the nightstand, got up, and stormed to the window, where he finally flicked it open. "What," he snapped.

"'Sup! Whatcha doing?"

"What do you mean, what am I doing?" Itachi brushed the curtain aside to lean his forearm on the window. He stared up at the shadowy outline of the Hokage Mountain, where it loomed over the city. "The fuck are _you_ doing?"

"Nothing. As usual. Just called to see how you were. So what's up?"

Itachi glanced behind him. Moegi was watching him, face drowsy now. "Me and Mo were kind of having some personal time."

"Shit! I'll talk to you later then-"

"No." He turned back to stare at the mountain, where Sasuke was likely calling from. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I swear-"

"Sasuke. Talk to me."

There was some fidgeting from the other end of the line. "Nothing. I promise. Just wanted to see what you were doing."

Lifting the window, Itachi leaned out and craned his head as far as he could, looking west. He could just barely make out the Hokage building where, fourth floor up, third window over, the light was on in the Hokage's office. "In other words you're home alone, and bored to shit." He shut the window.

"Uh…yeah. Kinda."

Itachi grit his teeth, but made the offer. "Want to come over?"

"Nah. Naruto should be home in another hour or so."

"Want _me_ to come over?"

"You never come over here. Anyways, no. I'm good, I promise."

Itachi twisted his mouth, staring up at the mountain and thinking. "Tell you what. Next time he's working late, gimme a call. We'll hang."

"Serious?" Sasuke's voice perked up immediately. "'Cause he's working late all this week. Gaara's in town, some big deal Konoha's doing with Suna. How about tomorrow or the next night?"

He'd taken off work early to make his appointment with Sakura this evening, so he was working late tomorrow to compensate. "No can do tomorrow. Hang on." He looked over at Mo. "We doing anything night after next?"

Half asleep now, she slowly shook her head. "Why?"

"Meeting my bro." He put the phone back to his ear. "Night after next it is."

"Sweet! I hardly see you anymore."

Itachi listened dutifully as Sasuke yakked on for the next fifteen minutes, before saying he had to go. "Hey. You sure you good?"

Up in Naruto's bungalow, Sasuke smiled. His brother still worried about him. He suddenly felt a lot better, knowing that some things never changed. "Yeah, I'm good. Love you, man. See you soon."  
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next evening when he got home, it was to find Ichi running wild in the living room, hind parts bare, and Kayo dragging the pots and pans out of the lowest cabinet in the kitchen and banging them noisily. This wasn't what had him freezing in the doorway. It was Mo. She was sitting at the kitchen table, head in her hands. When she heard him come in, she looked up. Her face was tense. She tried to smile, but her mouth only trembled through the attempt.

He shut the door and went to the hallway, where he stood still, senses wide open. Nothing. Then he looked at his kids, checking for anything wrong, but they seemed fine. He finally went to the kitchen and leaned against the bar counter across from her. "What is it."

"Itachi-"

"Something's wrong," he said, in case she tried to reassure him otherwise. He suddenly remembered that she'd had a doctor's appointment. "Shit, what'd Sakura say?"

"Um…"

He waited, body stiff with dread.

"I'm um. I'm pregnant."

" _What?_ "

Moegi winced. "I'm-"

"How the fuck did that happen?" It wasn't fatal news, but it was still a punch in the gut. Itachi inhaled forcefully, trying to calm down. "I thought we were practicing birth control?"

"We were," she said. She tracked her ovulation. Whenever those few days in the middle of her cycle rolled around, and she had a bunch of clear, gooey discharge, she and Itachi stuck to foreplay. "I guess we miscalculated."

Itachi lowered his head, shaking it slowly from side to side. He had a headache developing, and rubbed the back of his neck. "When?"

"Wait…there's more." She almost flinched when he looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Looks like I'm having twins."

"Jesus! Fuck, Mo, what the _fuck!_ "

She did flinch then, and lost her fight not to cry. The tears formed slowly, swelling in her eyes until they rolled down her cheeks. As if sensing this, Ichi stopped his yelling in the living room to come and investigate. He stood at Itachi's knee, staring at his mother. "Mama? Wha-happen? Fall down?"

Mo covered her face with her hands.

Itachi watched her, ignoring the way Ichi kept tugging on his hand and asking what had happened. He finally shook him off and went to her. Tugged her up from the chair and let her bury her face in his chest as her sobs got worse. She shook with them, wetting his shirt. "It's not your fault," he managed to croak eventually. "Didn't get pregnant by yourself."

"I'm sorry," she wailed. "I know how adamant you were about us only having two. I know, and I was fine with it. I swear I didn't do this behind your back-"

"Christ, stop, will you? That's not what I was thinking." He rubbed her back soothingly, until her tremors slowly began to subside. "It's just… two at once. We just had the first two, for God's sake."

"I know." She sniffed.

"Kayo's barely eight months, and we just got The Terror out of diapers. Fuck, you know how much those things cost?"

She nodded against his chest, then picked her head up. Her face was red. She met his eyes and took a deep breath. "I know. And I know everything you said, about not needing more than two, and how two was as much as you could support and keep safe and look out for. So…if we can't, you know…if we can't keep them-"

He put a hand to her mouth. "Hey. _Hey_. Shut up. Of course we're keeping them. What, you thought I'd tell you to get rid of them?"

Her face said it all.

"Well, I'm not. This wasn't planned, but they're still ours. We're keeping them. Okay?"

She wilted in a saggy heap against him, relief making her laugh weakly. "Okay."

"Maybe when this is all done we can do some more permanent form of birth control, but we're not giving these back. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Okay. And I'm not mad. Come on, hug me. I'm sorry, all right? I reacted badly." When she was squeezing him back, and he knew for sure that he'd done no lasting damage with his thoughtless outburst, he dropped his chin to her hair. "How many weeks are you?" She'd known right away with Ichi and Kayo.

"About that." She pulled back again to give him a sheepish, apprehensive look. "Sakura says I'm three months gone. I didn't know, since I was still getting my periods…although they were really light, now that I think about it."

"Jesus _Christ_. Six months from now-"

"She also said twins tend to come sooner…"

Itachi covered his mouth with a hand now, and just walked away from her. He stood staring into the distance, his other hand on his hip. When he turned around to look at her again, he dropped the hand from his mouth. "I can't support you guys, not on what I make now. We have enough for us, but there's no extra. I need another job."

"Well…I could go back to ANBU," Moegi suggested. "I'm a bit out of shape, though. The kids can go to daycare, or we can get a sitter-"

Itachi held up a hand. "No. No daycare, no damn sitter."

"But-"

"Babe, you're preggers." He went over to her and gently held her shoulders. "You can't be working, 'specially not in ANBU. You'll end up dropping the twins before the month is out. And I can't have my kids around strangers, period."

"I know, but-"

"Mo, listen to me. I'm not trying to be chauvinistic or anything, but _you_ need to be here with them. Next to me or Sasuke, you're the only one I trust with our kids. The one I know for sure will protect them and see they're safe. I didn't have that when I was raising Sasuke. I had to hope he'd just stay wherever I'd left him, and be there when I got back. You know how many times I worried myself sick that he'd be discovered or eaten by a stray dog? Thank fuck he was an angel, and did as I told him. If he'd been anything like Ichi, he wouldn't have seen his second birthday. The peace of mind I have knowing my kids are with their mother is invaluable.

"Besides, it's my job to take care of you. My right, my _privilege_. Lord knows you take care of me. You trust me?"

She nodded. "With my life. All our lives."

He pulled her in for another hug and kept her there. "Okay then. I got this. I don't want you worrying or thinking about anything but the fact that I'll handle things, same as I always have. Okay?"

"I love you so much."

They spent a few minutes kissing and snuggling, before Itachi finally pulled away. "Listen, let me get the kids fed and in bed tonight, okay?"

"They ate already. They just need to bathe, but Ichi kept squirming away, and I just sort of…felt overwhelmed all of a sudden. I can barely handle him, he gets worse everyday. How are we going to handle four?"

He didn't know, and just then didn't even want to think about it. "I'll bathe them. You go ahead and turn in."

"You sure?"

In answer, he guided her to the hall and nudged her toward the bedroom. When the door closed behind her, he turned toward his kids. "Ichi, bath time." He threw the pots back into the cabinet and scooped up Kayo, his docile daughter. She was like Sasuke, unless riled to action by Ichi, which wasn't often.

Ichiro resumed his former yelling and running in the living room. At two, he was a sturdy, stocky kid, taking after his mother. "No bath, NO BATH!" he shrieked.

" _Get your ass in that tub, boy!_ "

Ichi ran for the bathroom with a whimper.

-oOo-

Sasuke finished his paragraph and saved his document before answering his phone. "Yeah?"

"It's me, bro."

"Dude, I have caller ID."

"Need you down here tomorrow, before we hook up when I get off work."

"For what?"

"Stay with Mo. Watch the kids for her, help her around the house."

"Uh, yeah, okay. She sick?" He heard splashing and Ichi screaming, before the unmistakable sound of the kid's head being dunked under water silenced him.

"Just be here before I leave in the morning." Itachi hung up.  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sasuke had the place clean and the kids fed, bathed, and tucked in bed by the time Itachi showed up late the following evening. Mo was perched on the couch, her feet up, and a cup of tea in her hand. There was a worshipful expression on her face as she gazed at where Sasuke stood talking to her. "My hero," Itachi grinned when he walked in. "Holding down the fort in my absence. Ready to hang?"

He didn't bother to close the door, only went over and kissed Mo goodnight. He told her not to wait up for him. Sasuke was already jogging down the stairs by the time he left her.

-oOo-

"So," Sasuke said when they started walking. "Where to?"

"Anywhere you want to go?"

"Not really." He did a sideways leap and jumped his brother. "Being around you is enough for me."

"Fag."

Sasuke calmed down. "Mo told me."

"Yeah."

" _Twins_. You ready for that?"

"Guess I'll have to be. But I didn't come out tonight to talk about me. Let's deal with you."

"What about me?"

"What's up with you? Your news? Gimme deets, man, ain't seen you in weeks."

"That's because I'm free all day, and you work all day. Naruto likes me home when he gets in."

"What a dutiful little wife you are."

"Fuck off."

"Bet you cook and clean for him too, and clip his toenails."

Sasuke grit his teeth. He _did_ cook most nights. He walked in prim silence while his brother doubled over in hysterics.

"Tell me something, you guys ever switch it up?" Itachi asked once he'd stopped laughing.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning does my perfect bottom of a brother ever get to top."

"Hell no," Sasuke snorted. "I doubt I ever will. Naruto's not the bottoming kind."

"Figured as much. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you've never fucked anyone else, right?"

"So?"

"And Mr. Big, Bad, and Butch was too crazy over you to touch another ass, right?"

"Is this going somewhere?"

"Well, that means you've never sunk your dick into anything, male or female."

Sasuke stopped walking and turned to him. "What's your point?"

"Just saying, maybe you'd like to know what topping feels like."

"Maybe. But Naruto-"

"Listen. You're in a _relationship_ now. That means your needs get to be taken into consideration. Bring it up to the lug, he might let you. Assuming you're man enough." Itachi's eyes moved up and down Sasuke as if that quality was in question.

Sasuke swatted at him, but smiled. They resumed walking, crossing the street. "Why the sudden fascination with my sex life?"

"Just looking out for my bro. Want tips on giving head?"

"Ugh, fuck no!" He shuddered.

Itachi cackled again. "What, I'm good at it."

Sasuke eyed him. His brother never spoke about his time tricking to support them, not since the night he'd divulged it. "Actually there is something I want to ask. What are your thoughts on…um."

"What?"

"Nevermind." What the hell, he couldn't ask Itachi that.

"Come on, don't be a pussy. What?"

"Rimming." Sasuke kept his eyes straight ahead.

Itachi wasn't laughing now. He was a long time answering. "I've had it done to me. Never did it myself."

"Did you…I mean was it…?"

"I never enjoyed my job, Sasuke."

"Oh. Right. Of course not."

"'Sides, I was really young. My body was too immature to respond sexually to what was happening to it. It was just…stuff. Even later, when I'd gotten older and I'd enjoyed it against my will, I never _liked_ any of it. I tell you, I could never be with a guy romantically. Never. I couldn't get it up for a guy now to save my life."

"Oh."

Itachi's eyes brightened as he grinned at Sasuke. "Rimming, huh? Butch Daddy giving it to ya like _that?_ "

"Stop calling him that."

"Telling it like it is, man. Butchest fag I ever saw, and I've seen plenty. Well?"

"Yeah, he does it. And I just…go all to pieces. I mean it's…you know, intense. But I haven't done it. Yet."

Itachi nodded. "So he's good, huh?"

"I guess? I don't have anyone to compare with. Actually, I think he's phenomenal. The way I feel when he-"

"All right, all right. We're about to eat, don't ruin my appetite."

-oOo-

They walked through town, talked, laughed, and generally enjoyed the evening. By the time they finally selected a restaurant they could both agree on, Itachi had brought the conversation back around to Naruto. "So how is the jerk?"

Buttering his bread, Sasuke smiled broadly. "Much better. He goes to Iruka three times a week now, and once a week we go together."

"You guys need counseling?"

"Well, yeah. Naruto needs help navigating the ins and outs of relationship territory, as Iruka puts it. And I need help understanding the meaning behind certain behavior Naruto exhibits, also Iruka's words. For half of our joint session Iruka just counsels Naruto and me. The other half Kakashi sits in and we have couple on couple therapy."

"Sounds kinky."

"Fuck you."

Their food came and they dug in. "Hey, so long as he's treating you right, I don't care what kind of orgies you two have."

"Well he does. You wouldn't even recognize him now, always happy and smiling. Know what he did the other week?"

"Enlighten me."

"He left for work, same as every morning…"  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_And came back home three hours later. Sasuke had been in the process of hugging the bed, prepared to sleep for half the day, since they made love most of every night. He'd heard his name called softly, rolled over, and had been met with Naruto's beaming face hovering a foot above his own. "'S'matter?" he yawned. "Forgot something?"_

_"No. I've recently come into possession of some glorious information." Naruto held a file full of papers up for Sasuke to see, clutching it in both broad hands as if the documents were precious._

_Sasuke sat up. Yawned again. Scrubbed his face hard to wake himself up. "M'kay. What?"_

_Naruto sat across from him, bending one leg on the bed and leaning forward. Sasuke noticed that he looked hyper…or hyped on something. He felt himself become more alert. "Sakura found some old files belonging to Tsunade the other day. It seems she, Tsunade I mean, not Sakura, was in the process of some controversial research."_

_"Okay?" When he saw that Naruto was waiting for him to say something else, he added, "What kind of research?"_

_"Apparently, Tsunade developed a method for men to successfully have children!" Naruto cried triumphantly._

_Sasuke stared. He'd never seen Naruto so animated, so excited. He didn't even really hear what was said, focusing on the winning smile and shining eyes._

_"Do you know what that means?"_

_"Hm?"_

_"It means you can bear my child! We can be a family, Sasuke." And here Naruto's eyes grew moist._

_The small smile Sasuke had on his face slowly faded until it was transformed into a frown. "What?"_  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Itachi was making a scene. Laughing, if you could call it that. His head was thrown back, fist pounding the table, and he was screaming bloody murder. Sasuke calmly sipped his water and ignored the stares.

"No!" Itachi gasped. "Oh sweet fuck, no he didn't!"

"Wait," Sasuke said. He reached for more bread. "It gets better."  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Naruto rattled the file in his hand. "Yes! It's all here. Sakura said she can perform the procedure, and Ino will stay up here on the mountain with you while I'm at work-"_

_"What…the…fuck…"_

_"Just think, Sasuke. You can give me a child every year and we can fill the mountaintop with love and joy. Well? How soon do you think you'll be ready to gestate? I told Sakura you're free every day, so we could go down to the hospital now and have our first child by September or October. What do you say?"_

_He remembered his mouth being open and his mind being so shocked that it had been literally blank. What finally brought him around was the way Naruto was leaning forward, face positively maniacal with glee. Naruto had all but vibrated with the force of his excitement and this served to drive home to Sasuke that his lover was serious. He meant for Sasuke to breed. To have kids. "No," Sasuke whispered hoarsely. "Fuck no, are you cr-"_

_He'd had to check himself. Iruka said that that word was never to be mentioned to Naruto or in relation to anything Naruto did._

_Naruto's face fell, but his blazing blue eyes continued to stare at Sasuke. "You don't want my children?"_

_"It's not that, I-"_

_"Or you don't love me enough to do this for us?"_

_"Of course I love y-"_

_"I can't be expected to have children, obviously. I have a city to run, Fire Country to protect. My Kage duties are very pressing. You're the perfect choice, you're so mother-ful already-"_

_"Mother-ful?"_

_"And since you've never yet failed to give me what I want, I just know you'll see the wisdom of being the one to carry our children in your body-"_

_"Jesus-"_

_"So as soon as you say the word-"_

_"No."_

_Naruto's face underwent another noticeable change, this one towards sadness. His blond brows puckered upward as his mouth turned down. His eyes grew wetter. "No?"_

_"Naruto…no, I can't. I mean do you hear what you're saying?"_

_"This really means a lot to me, Sasuke."_

_"I know…but you're asking too much." He reached out and tried to pat Naruto's knee, but Naruto got off the bed. He walked to the bay window and stood looking out with his back to Sasuke._

_"I…I understand, I guess. It is a big job, growing a baby, or so I'm told. It's just…I love you so much, and I thought you'd be happy to have my child. I guess I'll have to use a woman instead, and I-_

_"Wait, what?"_

_Naruto turned, eyes large and soulful. "Well, yes…if you won't do it, I'll have to use a woman. Several women, if we're to have a large family. Gaara says it used to be an ancient custom for a Kage to have his own private harem. I believe Sakura said she'd look into selecting fertile candidates should you do the unthinkable and refuse. She said they would have to be young, and attractive, and-"_

_Sasuke got off the bed and went to stand by Naruto. Iruka said that they were to express dissatisfaction in a calm and non-accusatory manner, but fuck it. "You'd cheat on me? You'd fucking cheat on me to have a bunch of kids? After everything we've been through?"_

_"Of course not! It would only be for breeding purposes, I wouldn't be lingering with any of them!"_

_"Does it occur to you how much that would hurt me?"_

_"The way your aversion to having my children hurts me? You have your brother, Sasuke. I have no family. Would you deny me this opportunity?"_

_He'd spun away from Naruto then, not quite able to look at him. "Everyone deserves a family. But this…"_

_Naruto crept up on him from behind and held him close in a tight hug. "I just wanted to do what other couples do and have children together. It should be you, not some woman. I know that. You know that. If it makes you feel better, Iruka is already undergoing hormone treatments. He's going to give Kakashi a son by the end of the year, he says. You two can be pregnant together."_

_Sasuke shuddered hard, thoroughly and completely offended by the image Naruto illustrated. "I don't know…I mean, what happens to me? Is this procedure even safe?"_

_"Completely safe. Tsunade was unmatched in her field. And Sakura was her best student."_

_"You sure?"_

_"Positive." Naruto rested his chin on Sasuke's shoulder._

_"I don't know. I mean, Christ, men don't have kids. No, I can't, it's wrong. I just can't, Naruto. I'm sorry." Then, when Naruto remained silent, "What about side effects?"_

_"No more or less than for any woman who gets pregnant I'm told."_

_He'd stood there for a long, long time. The idea was abhorrent, but the chance to do something like this for Naruto, for them, having a child of their own bodies, with each other… "All right."_

_Naruto gasped by his ear. "You mean that? You'll do it?"_

_Closing his eyes and swallowing hard, Sasuke had nodded. "For you. But only one or two, not a whole horde of kids. And I still need to think about it."_

_"Oh, Sasuke!" Naruto planted a hard, juicy kiss on his cheek. "You won't regret this. You have no idea how happy you've made me. There's just one little thing."_

_"What's that?"_

_"I'm completely fucking with you."_

_It had taken him a moment to process that. He'd turned slowly in Naruto's arms to gaze at him in disbelief. "What?"_

_"It was a joke. A prank. I wanted to see if I could make you-"_  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"-And then I attacked his ass," Sasuke said as his second serving arrived. "Burned down half the bungalow before Naruto could stop me, and did a pretty decent number on him too. Damned near ripped his throat out. Fucking _asshole_. Iruka said that the fact that Naruto left in the middle of an important meeting to drive home and play that prank showed significant progress on his part. Said it meant Naruto was slowly but surely returning to the way he'd been before Danzo, that he was starting to come out of himself. I told Iruka to go fuck himself."

Itachi was now laughing so hard he was crying. He blew his nose noisily in his napkin, all but choking to death. People were staring worse than ever. When he finally managed to speak at all, it was to say, "Dude, that was epic! I remember you mentioning the house being remodeled, but you never said it was because of some prank! Ah, man…" he wiped his eyes with his soggy napkin. "That was genius. Pure genius. I think I'm going to have to invite Naruto over for dinner. Anyone who can get you to agree to something like that is worth knowing."

"Sometimes I really hate you. Do you realize I'll be scarred for life from that shit?"

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too."  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When they left the restaurant a couple of hours later, Itachi looked at Sasuke and clapped his hands briskly, rubbing them in the January cold. "Alrighty! So I hid something somewhere in the city," he began.

Sasuke was already grinning, knowing what was coming. "No way!"

"And something I said tonight is the clue you need to find that thing. Think you can handle it?"

"Oh, I'll find it," Sasuke said, playing his part. "Trust me." He could feel the old excitement he'd always felt as a kid when they played this game settling into his guts.

"I _am_ trusting you bro. Go do your thing." Itachi shoved his hands into his pockets.

They ambled away from the restaurant, not speaking as Sasuke thought. The minutes stretched out. When half an hour had passed, Sasuke bent a beady glare on his brother. "The hell are you playing at? I can't find a clue in anything you said."

"That's a first."

"You tricked me?"

"Nope. Clue's there."

They came to a bench and sat. Another forty-five minutes crawled by as Sasuke frowned at the sidewalk. At last he picked his head up. "Pretty clever. Using a clue to find the clue to find the real clue. Layers. You've never done that before."

"Meh, figured you ain't a kid anymore. And I probably won't be playing this game with you again. Or anyone. Ichi doesn't have your brains. Well?"

They went to the park, Sasuke leading, where he found a sheet of paper folded and buried beneath a tree root. He unfolded it. "What's this?"

"Read it, dummy."

Sasuke did. "Itachi…it says here that you and I have been accepted to the ANBU Tech Division." He looked up at his brother in shock. "Do you have any idea how many times I petitioned the Captain for a position in TD? He wouldn't have given me this job if his life depended on it."

Itachi shrugged. "Let's just say that when _I_ asked him his life did depend on it. Miserable fuck is guilty of sexual harassment."

Sasuke remembered the way he'd been kicked out of ANBU for not submitting to the Captain's advances. "But this…I mean-"

"I need the work, and you need something to do. That job pays three times what I make at the steel plant. Regular hours. Health benefits for me and my family. This is it, it's ideal for both of us."

"I don't know what to say."

Itachi walked over and stood close to him. After a minute he grabbed the back of Sasuke's neck and just held on. "Say yes. It's ANBU, which I know you loved working in, but not dangerous, which is good. I wouldn't be able to take the thought of you going on missions. Personally, I hated you being in ANBU, just never said anything. Lived in fear of being woken one night by a knock on the door or a call on my phone to tell me you'd bought it. I'd go crazy if I lost you. I mean that. I can take losing anyone but you. You're my brother, my blood, my last link with mom and dad, and everything before Madara. You're irreplaceable. Let some other idiot sign up for missions. Academy is full of dreamers waiting to do just that. This…this is ours, our ticket to easy street. Tech niche is small, and no one, _no one_ , has our skills. We'll rule that joint, and probably end up running it inside two years. We'd be _paid_ , Sasuke. Besides, working all day with your bro…going home to the ones we love at night…there are worse ways to live. Hell, we've lived them. Just say yes."

It was perfect, just like Itachi said. And getting to spend all day everyday with his brother would be heaven, because he and Itachi had to face facts: they needed each other. Always had, always would. Needed to be in each other's presence just as much as they each needed Naruto and Mo. Maybe even more so on some levels. "Yes."

Itachi grinned. "You sure? Don't need to run it by your hubby first?"

"I will, but regardless to what he says, I'm doing this. Ugh, I love you!" he yelled, tackling Itachi to the ground. He kissed him hard on the nose.

"Ow."

They horsed around a bit more, had a brief game of tag, which Itachi won, but eventually, as it was going on 2 am, they made their way out of the park. It started snowing, and Sasuke looked over at his brother with a fond expression. "I used to think Naruto was my hero, but it's really you, you know."

Itachi snorted, but he was touched. Seemed he hadn't lost his brother after all, the way he sometimes thought. "Me? Nah. Or if I am, I'm one of those lesser heroes, the ones no one ever talks about."


	2. Mi Casa es Su Casa

"Okay, and don't…whatever you do, don't try to get on my brother's nerves, or take anything he says to heart."

"Why would I try to get on his nerves?" Naruto said. His voice was somewhat strained as he lifted his chin, thereby allowing Sasuke to tie the knot in his tie.

"I don't know. You might say something to piss him off without meaning to, or if he baits you, you might say something to get back at him."

"Bait me how?"

"I don't know!" Sasuke turned away in agitation, looking in the bathroom mirror to see if his own tie was straight. "But this is the first time he's ever deigned to really invite you over, and I don't trust it." He met Naruto's eyes in the mirror. "I mean, I'm his brother. Why would he ask for formal eveningwear to his fucking house? Been there a million times. I used to _live_ there."

"Isn't this normal for formal invitations? Formal attire?"

"Not to your family's house," Sasuke said darkly. "I don't even think Itachi owns a suit. He's up to something, I can feel it. Should never have told him about that prank you played. He's been weird ever since. Brings it up at work all the time, always asking if I'm late yet, or…or if you and I have picked out baby names. Wants to know when Ichi and Kayo will have cousins. Christ, I _hate_ his ass sometimes."

Naruto had to turn away, but it was no use. Every time he remembered the prank he just about died laughing. He caught sight of Sasuke glowering at him through the mirror, and laughed even harder, letting the wall support him as tears gathered in his eyes. "You have to admit, it was beautiful."

"Lover or not, I _will_ kick your face in," Sasuke spat. He splashed aftershave on, and rudely left the bathroom.

"Still don't see what the prank has to do with this invitation," Naruto managed as they left the house. Snow crunched under their feet as they headed for the garage.

"That jackass said that if you could get me to agree to something like that, then you were worth knowing. Didn't know he was serious at the time, but whatever. I think we should focus on what this night is really about."

"And what's that?" The Windracer came to life with a dull roar.

"You and my brother finally getting to know each other."

"Hmm."

"Don't _hmm_ me. I've been saying it for months. We're all family, it's time you two set your differences aside. And even if this _is_ some stunt on Itachi's part, I want you to be nice. Okay? Iruka…you had your prep session with Iruka, right?"

"Yes." The Windracer's wipers moved idly in the light snowfall as they wound down the mountain road.

"So you'll be nice?"

Naruto turned a toothy smile on Sasuke, eyes reduced to merry blue slits. "I'm always nice."

_Just kill me now,_ Sasuke thought with a groan.

* * *

The march up the stairs to Itachi's apartment was done in silence. Sasuke scowled, expecting trouble. Naruto set aside his falsely carefree manner to admit that he had a healthy case of nerves. He didn't like Itachi. Never did, never would. Mo was all right, he supposed, but there were kids in there was well. He couldn't remember ever being around kids so small, and wasn't sure just what one did with them. Iruka had given him a lengthy talk on family, the need for acceptance, and a host of other things he'd more or less ignored. As far as he was concerned, Itachi was a rival for Sasuke's attention, time, and love. Brother or not, Naruto just didn't like him. Didn't like the idea of him, or the fact of his existence.

-oOo-

Itachi himself answered the door after Sasuke's knock. His dark eyes were crinkled with mirth as they looked back and forth between his guests, and his voice was diabolical with good cheer. " _Well_ now. If it ain't little brother and butch daddy, come to call. Mo?" he yelled over his shoulder. "You owe me twenty. Idiot actually fell for the formal attire bit, just like I said he would." And here he hooted with laughter, while sweeping his arm wide in a gesture for them to enter.

An ache settled behind Sasuke's eyes as they were led to the table. He had to work at keeping his face impassive; Itachi had on an old sweatshirt and a faded pair of jeans.

Once at the table, Itachi and Mo sat at either end, with Sasuke and Naruto to either side, facing each other. The kids were in high chairs, one at Mo's elbow, one at Itachi's.

* * *

Itachi served.

"So, Naruto," Itachi said when they began eating. "Sasuke tells me you two are starting a family?" He looked up at him inquisitively as he forked mashed potatoes into his mouth. All polite, and conversational, and oblivious to Sasuke's scowl. If he felt the harsh kick Sasuke gave him beneath the table, he didn't show it.

Six months ago, Itachi had walked into his office and set him straight with a few sharp words, Naruto mused. As it had then, something about the man's blunt approach to things seemed to set him at ease. Why this was the case, Naruto didn't know, but he felt his nerves evaporating as he recognized a glint of mischief in those dark eyes. Sasuke was all but ready to launch a _Katon_ at his brother, yet here Itachi sat, making blatant fun of the infamous prank. Doing so, and encouraging Naruto to join in, no less.

"Yes," he said feelingly. "I'm hoping for a son first, like you have. Someone to groom as my successor. I think Sasuke would be a great mother, personally, to any son or daughter he gives me."

Itachi nodded sagely, even as he lashed out with his own foot at the persistent kicks he was receiving. "He's certainly sensitive enough. Always has been. And he was a great kid himself. Means yours'll be nice and obedient. Like Sasuke." A particularly savage kick from Sasuke had him wincing, and the table shuddering. Moegi glanced in sympathy at her brother-in-law, but Itachi and Naruto ignored this.

"Naruto," Moegi began.

He turned to her immediately. "I think the way you're putting your body to the use it was meant for really commendable. You should crank out as many as you can now, while you're still fertile enough to-"

Things pretty much went downhill from there. Between Itachi bawling with laughter, Mo stabbing Naruto in the shoulder with her fork, and Sasuke finally landing a punch in his brother's face, only Ichi and Kayo really had any dinner. And they were too busy screaming and crying in fear to eat.

-oOo-

Once Mo had angrily taken her children off to bed, and Sasuke had exchanged some heated words with Itachi in the bedroom, Itachi stood with Naruto at the door and tried to apologize. "Can't help it," he shrugged. His tone and expression weren't the least bit apologetic. "Kid begs to be fucked with, him with his serious attitude and shit. Besides, I have a right, as his older brother. Still, you were my guest. Whole mess could have gone better."

"I enjoyed myself," Naruto said gravely.

Just then Sasuke came back from kissing his niece and nephew goodnight. Itachi switched his tone and expression without missing a beat, putting a note of concern in both. "I can give you the name of an excellent pediatrician, though Sakura is no slouch in the kid department. Let me know, all right?"

Naruto had to bite the inside of his cheek, but he managed a serious expression in turn. "That's a comfort, having your support."

"Anytime. I'll be the kid's uncle, after all. And you can come back anytime as well. My house is yours. You're family."

Naruto seemed to ponder this, staring down at Itachi's wide, attentive eyes until Sasuke marched over and gave him a violent shove. Naruto barely moved, but he took the hint and exited the open door. Sasuke slammed it as hard as he could right after him, and turned to pin his brother with red eyes.

Itachi's polite smile died away immediately. "I don't think I've ever seen you lose control of your eyes. I know you're not actually threatening me." This last was said in a lowered tone, indicating a little threat of his own.

"Don't you think you're carrying this a bit too far?" Sasuke hissed. His eyes remained red, answering Itachi's unasked question.

"Frankly? No. Lighten up."

Sasuke inhaled slowly and deeply, as he took a step that put him nose to nose with his brother. The difference in their heights was more noticeable now, but Itachi refused to be cowed or intimidated. His eyes remained black, with one brow raised, and his hands on his hips.

"Allow me to illustrate the situation as I see it, then," Sasuke breathed. "This isn't funny to me. It never was. I let Naruto get away with laughing about it because I have no choice, but I expect _you_ to know when something bothers me as much as this does. And I expect you to have my back, for fuck's sake. I _don't_ expect you to betray me with him like this, repeatedly. I don't like it. And at the moment, Itachi, I don't like you. Not at all."

Itachi's heart contracted at the accusation of betrayal, but clenched even worse at that last comment. This wasn't some juvenile hissy fit, where Sasuke said he hated him then pouted for a week. He was serious. Suddenly, the ribbing wasn't remotely funny to Itachi either. "I'd never betray you, man. You know that."

"You're hurting me. Deliberately. Same fucking thing."

Itachi had to take a step back; that statement hurt _him_. He brought one fist to his mouth. When he'd swallowed, and had himself under control, he gave a single, careful nod. "All right." He cleared his throat. "All right, man. I'm sorry. I'll leave it alone."

Sasuke stared at him another moment, before wrenching the door open.

"We good?" Itachi ventured, catching the door before it could slam shut.

In answer, Sasuke leaped over the banister in the hall, past a silent Naruto, and took the stairs three at a time. Itachi closed the door uneasily.

* * *

Back in the truck, Naruto was in a good mood. "I think I did what you wanted. Your brother and I made a lot of progress tonight. Something about his manner sets me at ease. I think it's the way you always know where you stand with him. How he doesn't bullshit around, and expects you to be just as together. Anything less is contemptible to him, I sense. I think I might come to like him in time." He drove along the slushy streets with a smile of pride for this breakthrough on his face. "Mo got angry at the end there, but I forgive her. Stab wound wasn't deep, and she's always been sort of crazy with her temper." He braked for a red light.

Sasuke slowly turned his head to look at him. "You are one insensitive asshole, you know that?"

The smile fell away. "What?" He glanced at Sasuke, brows lowering. "What did I do? I'm not the one betraying you. Oh yes, I overheard your conversation with your brother. I thought playing along with his own little prank a great way to relieve the tension between us. Iruka said I should find some kind of common ground with him, and-"

Sasuke slammed his fist into his window, shattering it. " _Shut_ _up!_ " he yelled. "Just shut the fuck _up_!" He got out and banged the door closed, causing bits of safety glass to tinkle out of the window. "I'm walking home."

Naruto was left to stare at the snow swirling into his truck, and wonder what he'd done wrong. Sasuke never spoke to him like that. Not since before. It made his anxiety flare up suddenly, which was an unwelcome surprise. He considered going to Iruka right then, but his former teacher was adamant that they only see each other at their weekly appointments. Naruto was to navigate any problems that cropped up in his life between sessions on his own.

* * *

Even driving home slowly, he arrived before Sasuke. When Sasuke did finally make it back, Naruto was waiting for him in the living room, parked in his armchair. He heard snow being stomped from Sasuke's boots on the porch, before the door was opened, and Sasuke entered. He was red-cheeked with cold, but seemed more composed. Some of the tightness in Naruto's chest eased, but not much.

"I made tea," he offered.

"I just want to go to bed." Sasuke passed through the living room without looking at him.

"Sasuke-"

"Later. Not now, I'm…not in the mood."

Naruto swallowed the pain that caused him. When they were both in bed, he lay awake for a long time, listening to Sasuke's even breathing, and staring up at his canopy. He was never able to sleep when they didn't touch.

* * *

Itachi woke suddenly and silently, and knew someone was standing over his bed. Over him and Mo. He could feel the threat of the guy, the size of him, the strength of his chakra, and knew he and Mo were probably as good as dead. His eyes were on before they were open, and chakra was blasting around him even as he was turning over.

He saw some hulking shape, saw his son being held awkwardly in the intruder's arms, and was already shouting for Mo to get Kayo and run as he reared up at the guy, both hands blazing with fire.

Naruto rapped the flat of his palm against Itachi's forehead with a look of wary puzzlement. Itachi went down like a load of bricks. Mo was sitting up in bed, blinking blearily at Naruto and her husband both.

Kayo's sleepy cry caused her to groan, but she slid out of bed and left to see about her.

-oOo-

Ichi babbled a whispered question up at Naruto, something unintelligible, but he wasn't listening. Itachi was only unconscious for a minute. Naruto gazed down at him, alert for any further sign of attack as he began coming around.

"Motherfucking _Christ,_ " Itachi croaked. He squinted up at Naruto as if just realizing he was there, saw Ichi looking at him curiously, and hauled himself to a standing position. "I have got to be dreaming. The fuck are you doing in my house, holding my kid? Mo?" he called. He reached for Ichi, who dropped into his arms as Naruto released him.

Mo's indistinct voice came from the children's bedroom.

Itachi's head abruptly cleared. "Oh God. _No_. Not Sasuke, not my brother. Jesus…Jesus." He clutched at Naruto's shirt with panicky strength. "Is he…Oh God, _is_ _he_?"

"Is he what?" Naruto said.

But no, if Sasuke were hurt or dead, Naruto wouldn't be standing there with that simple-ass look on his face. Itachi tried to sort his thoughts, realizing they were still a bit muddled. He felt dizzy. Remembered attacking Naruto. Naruto's hand lifting toward his face. "What'd you do to me?"

"Disconnected some of your brain synapses for a moment. Short-circuited them, so to speak."

Riiight. "And _why_ are you in my house? How'd you get in?"

"Door was open."

"No it wasn't."

"It was after I twisted the knob."

"Motherf- You broke into my house. For what?"

"To visit."

Itachi went still, staring at him in morbid fascination as he absently bounced a yawning Ichi. A glance at his bedside clock had him re-thinking his retort. "It's three o'clock in the morning."

"I'm aware."

"Are you also aware that people don't 'go visiting' at that hour?"

"You said I could come over anytime. You're family, Sasuke said. You said this too."

Itachi used the excuse of looking down at his sleeping son to buy himself some time to think. "Wait for me in the living room."

Naruto left. Itachi noticed that he didn't make any sound when he moved, and shivered. The knowledge of having that kind of threat just ghosting around the place while he and Mo slept was _not_ going to leave his mind anytime soon.

* * *

Once the kids were sleeping, and Mo was back in bed, Itachi joined Naruto out in the living room and looked him up and down, arms folded. "All right, buddy. Suppose you tell me what happened?"

Naruto told of driving over, knocking several times, and hearing the boy come to the door. He'd opened it at that point –which caused Itachi to glance at his broken house door- and entered the apartment. Ichi seemed to want to be picked up, if his raised arms had been any indication. Naruto had obliged him, then gone down the hall to Itachi's room. He'd called Itachi's name, but got no answer.

Itachi pinched his lips in one hand, studying him. "So you just waltzed into my goddamn bedroom?"

Naruto blinked alertly. "Yes."

"The fuck's wrong with you?"

"Excuse me?"

Itachi waved a hand in dismissal. "Wasn't even what I was asking, how you got here. What happened to make you want to visit in the first place, is what I want to know? I assume Sasuke kicked you out or something. Or you guys fought."

Naruto pursed his lips a moment. "He's angry with me. Very angry. I was wondering…hoping…you could maybe tell me why this is all bothering him now. The prank was weeks ago."

Itachi didn't bother to hide his groan. "Don't you have a counselor for this shit?"

"Iruka's firm about only meeting on scheduled days."

"So…wait till then, what. You and Sasuke's issues ain't my problem. Don't be coming up in my house like this over minor shit, scaring the hell out of me. You're likely to get your ass dropped next time."

Naruto puzzled this out a moment, frowning. "I can't come over?"

Something in the low question halted Itachi as he was turning away. Something in the way the blue eyes caught moonlight and glowed. Naruto's mood communicated itself clearly to him just then, and Itachi sensed that it was dangerous. Not overtly or intentionally, but dangerous just the same. Perhaps more so for being unconscious. It was as if he were dealing with some kind of unstable chemical mixture that could explode at the slightest upset. "What is it you want?" he said carefully. "Why'd you come here tonight?"

Naruto got up from where he'd been sitting on the arm of the couch. "To hang out. Talk. Visit. I enjoyed dinner earlier…"

Oh God. "I see. You want a friend."

Naruto's face brightened alarmingly. "Yes. Yes, that's it exactly. A friend. We can be friends, right?"

Itachi considered several responses, not the least of which was commenting on how that last question all but quivered with threatening undertones. He was sure Naruto was unaware of it, but _he_ wasn't. It occurred to him that this was who his brother was living with. Getting to know Naruto better suddenly seemed like a prudent step to take. Correctly assuming that Naruto would respond to a similar display, he pasted a broad, energetic smile on his face. "Sure! Hang on, and I'll get dressed, okay?"

Naruto's smile broadened.

* * *

Downstairs and outside the building, Itachi took charge. "Right, well I only have four hours until I have to be at work. A bit less than that, actually, and nothing I know of is open at this hour. Care for a walk?"

Naruto glanced at his truck. "All right."

Itachi was bundled up in a heavy coat, a hat, and scarf, but Naruto seemed fine in a simple long-sleeved tee and his cargo pants. "Don't you feel cold?"

"Not especially. Don't normally feel the elements. My body adjusts to outside stimuli like weather."

"Huh. So what'd you want to talk about exactly? Getting on Sasuke's good side again?"

"Actually…" Naruto spoke for a long time. Well over an hour. "I thought I was becoming more normal. Iruka thinks I am, but apparently I'm just pissing Sasuke off more. These past six months have been heaven, but now…"

"Well, it's only tonight, right?" Itachi asked. "He's only been mad at you tonight?"

"Yes. And the day of the prank."

"And you can't handle one night of his bitchitude? Man, _please!_ "

"I hate when we fight. I don't want him to say he hates me again."

Itachi shook his head. "If he did say it, he wouldn't mean it. Plus, you could milk his guilt afterwards for some killer make-up sex from him."

"I'd never manipulate Sasuke."

"Says the perpetrator of the coolest prank in history. Wish I'd thought of it, but that'd be incest. Yeuchh." Itachi shuddered.

Naruto digested the compliment. "So I should just give him time?"

"Yup. And leave the prank alone. His mood is mostly my fault tonight, but don't go making it worse by saying dumb shit about it to him. We had our fun. Let's leave it at that."

Something Sasuke said earlier came back to Naruto. "Is Mo still angry at me? I didn't mean to be insensitive."

Itachi actually stopped walking to throw his head back and cackle loudly. "Dude! Oh man…do not ever say chauvinistic shit like that to a woman. Never to a pregnant woman, and _never_ to one with a temper like hers. Christ, was she horny tonight after you guys left! Didn't think I'd ever sort her out. Funny as fuck too, how she stabbed you. Wouldn't mind seeing that again." He wiped a tear from his eye. "Good times."

* * *

Once the sun had come up, he and Naruto stood outside a cell phone shop while the owner unlocked it. They were the first customers in, and in fact some of the first people to be up and about in the city at all. Itachi bought a simple model, bought a SIM card and a simple plan, and left.

-oOo-

Picking up coffee and bagels along the way, Itachi led Naruto to the park, where they sat at a picnic table. He fiddled with the phone for a few minutes. Naruto watched early joggers and dog-walkers circling the park's track.

"Listen up," Itachi said suddenly. He held the phone up in front of him. "This is a phone. I'm assuming you don't have one."

"I don't," Naruto confirmed. "Sasuke does."

"This is now your phone." He passed it over with all the solemnity of a royal scepter. "Use it well."

Naruto held the phone and looked back and forth between it and Itachi.

"For instance," Itachi said slowly. "You can call me first the next time you feel like visiting at night. See? My number's in there." He walked Naruto through the phone's features one by one.

"Sasuke's name is in here too," Naruto said, concentrating. "And Mo's."

"Yup. And you can do cool things like send _messages_. Like this." He pulled out his phone.

Naruto jumped when his hummed in his hand. Carefully pressing a button, he pulled up the message. "How do I send one back?"

Itachi showed him, and showed him the nifty feature of ring tones. "So you can know who's calling before you even touch it. But I have to get to work." He stood and bit off a huge chunk of bagel. "You good?"

"What?" Naruto was punching something into his phone with glacial deliberation, completely absorbed. "Yes…Oh…there's a clock on here. I have work too."

Itachi reached across the table and clapped Naruto's rock hard shoulder. "Call next time, 'kay? Or text me, whichever." He paused, an idea coming to him. "You mind if I come over sometime?"

Naruto didn't look up. "…No. Welcome anytime."

_Perfect._ He left Naruto staring at his new toy.

* * *

Sasuke was already on the job. The sniff he got in response to his greeting reminded him that his brother was mad at him too. Itachi sat at the entire wall of screens he managed without a second thought for Sasuke. He was more than capable of waiting the frosty mood out.

Once Sasuke thawed, though, Itachi planned on having a serious conversation about his brother's choice in bedmates. Naruto wasn't just eccentric, as he'd thought all this time. Dude was fucking crazy, plain and simple.

Ten minutes later, his phone buzzed. Pulling it out, he saw a text from Naruto: _Thank you._

_Meh_ , Itachi thought. _Maybe he's not_ so _bad._


	3. Brother

There were levels of sleep. The light sleep of sedentary individuals. The deep sleep of more active people. The vigilant sleep of those who breathed in danger on a daily basis. The senseless sleep of civilians. The half-dead sleep of the elderly.

And then there was the never-quite-fully-asleep period of rest of the truly powerful.

Naruto's sleep was like this. His mind rested, but his senses were never dulled. In slumber, they often shifted to something more perceptive than when he was awake. Awake, he was muzzled by the five senses everyone else used. With Sasuke in his life, one could say these senses had been sharpened further. The way a blade is routinely kept sharp by someone who has something to guard or protect.

So he was aware.

When he came awake in his dark bedroom, an influx of data passed over his mind: Sasuke was snoring beside him, unhurt; His room was dark, the air cold and of a particular weight and temperature that told him it was between 2 and 3 am; there was someone immediately to his left. In his bedroom.

The person was good. To come up the mountain unchecked, across his clearing, into his house, and up to his bed before he woke? _Very_ good.

Still as he was, Sage Mode came effortlessly. Only when it was in place did he calmly and slowly open his eyes.

But Sasuke snapped awake at feeling his chakra. He felt Sasuke's hand slap at his side of the bed, landing with a crack on his bare shoulder. "Naruto?"

He didn't move. As long as the presence was still, he was still. Aware of each nanosecond of time as a separate beat. Finely attuned to the intruder. His position. His height, his weight, though his back was to him. He could hear the person's breathing, the slow thud of his heart. Smell him. All during the moment Sasuke first slapped at him, then began sitting up as he, too, became aware of someone else in the room.

Still. He was so still, with the intruder. Silent, as Sasuke first opened his mouth to shout or speak, then began swinging his legs off the bed. This all seemed slow to Naruto, like a soundless drama unfolding in the dark. His eyes remained fixed in one place, seeing Sasuke's response without diverting his attention from the intruder.

By the beat of the person's heart, Naruto judged him to be a young man. He would be fast, given his obvious stealth. And so he waited, breathing at the young man's own breath rhythm; between one beat of that foreign heart and another, in the brief pause between inhale and exhale, Naruto would strike.

Sasuke's feet hit the floor. The intruder moved at last, and Naruto was on his feet behind the man-

A flashlight was flicked on and shone directly into Naruto's face. It temporarily blinded him, and scattered his intent to kill.

" _Hey_ there, buddy! Bad time?"

This frightfully loud and obscenely cheerful voice was instantly recognizable. " _Itachi?_ " Sasuke exploded from across the room. "Is that you?"

-oOo-

Itachi held the bright light in Naruto's face a moment more. It kept the freak off-balance, and gave him a chance to calm his racing pulse down. Thank fuck no one could see how badly his hands were shaking. The light shivered on Naruto's features, but considering that Naruto had a hand up to shield his eyes, and Sasuke was currently ranting to the room at large, neither of them noticed.

He didn't think he'd ever been so close to death. Not since Akatsuki'd had him and he actually _had_ died.

His chakra had been masked too, that was the thing. He'd masked it just as hard as he could before setting out tonight. Had made it all the way to the bedroom without incident. Two seconds. He'd been standing at the bedside for two whole seconds before he sensed Naruto wake up.

As long as he lived he would never forget the sensation of Naruto's awareness. Of his unhurried and deliberate shift to the offensive. How the man had _waited_. Alert to him. Sasuke's reaction had been ignored; the threat of Naruto silently grew as the next two seconds ticked by. He'd felt some kind of unshakable…thing, some kind of answering awareness in his own body, of Naruto and the violence escalating in him. For a moment there it had almost been as if they'd been sharing the same skin. Breathing in time, completely in sync the way predator and prey sometimes were before the pounce. That one moment was the only reason he'd sensed Naruto moving almost before he'd actually moved. He'd been able to turn around and have himself facing where Naruto appeared at his back –with no clear memory of doing so- and thus realize that a hand was reaching for him. Naruto's hand. Not just reaching, but _there_ , the fingernails pressing into his chest in preparation to punching right through and seizing his heart. It felt like slow motion, though the touch had probably been instantaneous. It had only been his heightened senses that made it seem otherwise.

His thumb had flicked the switch on the flashlight out of pure, terrified reflex. The hand digging painfully into his skin had been jerked up instead, and he'd sucked in a sick, convulsive breath. Let it out again in the first thing to come to mind. His voice had been loud and wild, he knew, but now here they were.

_Fucking Christ, I am never doing that again._

But they didn't need to know that.

"Itachi." Sasuke's voice was sharp. Irritated. "Are you going to answer me?"

Taking a few steps sideways, thereby putting distance between himself and Naruto, Itachi finally swung the light to Sasuke's face, blinding him. "'Bout what?"

" _The fuck are you doing here!"_

Now that the threat was over, and he could see Naruto surfacing from whatever kill-first-ask-later trance he'd been in, Itachi relaxed. Mostly, anyway. He _was_ there for a reason, though. "Came to visit," he said brightly.

His brother went silent, but Naruto said "Oh," in a small, delighted voice. When Itachi swung the light back to him, it was to find the unpleasant sight of Naruto grinning, eyes somehow intense in their crinkled happiness.

Sasuke looked back and forth between Naruto's illuminated face and what he could see of Itachi. "What do you mean _oh_? Itachi, what the fuck. Are you crazy, coming over here unannounced at this hour?"

The light swung to him again, stinging his eyes. "What, you mean the way your hubby there came to my house the other night and did the exact same thing?"

"What? Get that shit out of my eyes, _what?_ " He squinted in Naruto's direction. "What's he talking about?"

Naruto moved around the room, lighting a few candles. He was absurdly touched at this effort Itachi was making. He hadn't thought either of them would expand so soon on the progress they'd made with his impromptu visit two nights ago, but this was good. He turned from lighting the last candle and smiled at them both. "I did visit the other night. You were angry at me, so I went to him-"

Itachi held up a hand. "No. What he _did_ was to break my house door and walk into my bedroom. In the middle of the night. Holding my kid."

Sasuke turned wide, disbelieving eyes to Naruto, who was nodding. "You did _what_?" he said hoarsely.

"I visited," Naruto said. "Took your advice, tried to see Itachi as family. He did say I could visit anytime. We had a good time, too." His smile was one of proud satisfaction.

Sasuke was sure that were Iruka present he would be gently steering this bizarre situation out of the mess it was heading toward, but it was just the three of them. If the perky and unnaturally merry look on Itachi's face was any indication, he was feeling something potent just then. Could be anger, but if Naruto had done what he did two days ago, his anger would have settled down by now. Then he thought of how Itachi must have woken up to find Naruto in his room and amended that. Itachi never 'got over' anger he felt. He simply waited, putting the emotion away, until he had an opportunity to use it. Whatever he was feeling, he was _not_ here to visit.

Looking at Naruto, Sasuke saw that this detail was lost on him. He didn't have all the facts, but he watched and listened carefully as Itachi turned to Naruto now.

"So! Hope you don't mind me coming over like this?"

"No, of course not." Naruto's smile broadened.

"All unannounced."

"It's fine."

"Middle of the night."

"Yes…"

"You were sleeping."

"I was."

Itachi waited a moment, apparently deciding to switch tactics. "Let's go hunting."

Now Naruto blinked, and his smile faltered. "Hunting?"

The confusion in those blue eyes seemed to lift Itachi's already high spirits. "Yeah! Outside the village. Hunting. You and me, manly men, bringing home the bacon. What do you say?"

As if gauging the veracity of this proposition, Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who seemed tense. "It's a bit early to hunt. Optimal time would be dawn, or else dusk…"

"Great! Dawn's in a few hours. Let's go." Itachi turned for the door, but turned back when Naruto didn't move. "You coming?"

"Hunting takes time. A day at least to scout and stalk, even when planned. The game would be far from the village. Aside from which, there is no real game worth hunting in Fire Country. It's moved on to less populated areas."

"Then let's hunt something that's not game."

"I have work," Naruto said slowly.

Itachi turned and faced Naruto squarely, tilting his head. "You wouldn't be refusing me, now would you? Because I specifically got up in the middle of the night, left my pregnant wife, and trudged up this mountain so we could hang. I'd be _crushed_ if you turned me down, man. Family doesn't do that to each other. _Are_ you turning me down?"

Naruto blinked, taking this pronouncement with the utmost seriousness. "No, I…no."

Itachi's face cleared. "Good! Why don't you go pack us a lunch while I talk to my bro here, hm?"

All but scratching his head in bewilderment, Naruto made his way out of the bedroom and into the hall.

-oOo-

The fierce grin Itachi had maintained all this time fell off his face the moment Naruto closed the door behind himself. His eyes zeroed in on Sasuke's with a look that almost made the younger man step back. "You."

"What the hell is going on?" Sasuke hissed, stepping around the bed.

"Exactly what I told you," Itachi snapped in an answering whisper. He moved farther into the room, meeting Sasuke half way. "That freak was _in my house_. I'm giving him a taste of his own medicine now, hopefully set his dumb ass straight, but you need to keep your man on a leash. The fuck, Sasuke he _broke in_ to my _house_."

Sasuke worried the inside of his cheek, staring hard at Itachi's irate face. "He really broke the door?"

" _Yes!_ " Itachi closed his eyes a moment. "Look, something is wrong with him. He can't waltz in there at that time of night, tell me he's visiting, and think it's normal."

"But he probably does think it's normal, or he wouldn't have done it."

"And this is who you lie down with," Itachi hissed. Naruto could be heard coming back. "Check him, Sasuke, or I will."

"But-"

" _Check him_."

Naruto ducked back into the bedroom, and Itachi turned without missing a beat, broad smile splitting his face. "All set?" he nearly yelled.

"Yes. Everything's in the truck." Naruto couldn't help returning Itachi's smile. Once Itachi had gone out to the truck, he went to Sasuke and brushed a kiss over his mouth. "I guess I'll be back tonight."

"What about your duties?"

Naruto hesitated. "Tell Kakashi to handle things today."

Sasuke watched him leave with a frown of confusion on his face. Why on earth was Naruto so fixated on his brother of a sudden?

* * *

This time it was the phone that woke him. It was on the nightstand, charging. The insistent ringing was heard in whatever dream he was having, heard without pause. Then it did stop. Still more asleep than awake, he heard the little _chirrup_ that signified he'd received a text message. Heard it five times, ten, a dozen times. And then the phone ringing, ringing, ringing once more until it seemed the phone itself was screaming for him to wake up. It wasn't Sasuke's ringtone or he'd have answered it on the first ring. As it was, he threw a hand out toward the nightstand, snagged the fucking thing, flicked it open, and pressed it to his ear, all without opening his eyes. "Somebody better be dead."

"Not that I know of."

Itachi sat up. "Naruto?"

"I'm calling first, like you asked me to. How are you?"

He pulled the phone away from his ear long enough to see on its display that it was just after midnight. Then he slowly brought it to his head again as something else registered. "Where are you?" he asked in dread.

"On your couch."

Which was what he was afraid of; he could hear Naruto speaking out in the living room. Moving slowly so as not to wake Mo, he eased off the bed, ending the call in the process. He went out to the living room.

-oOo-

Naruto looked up at him pleasantly. His hands were folded across his stomach, huge feet planted firmly on the floor. For a moment, several moments, Itachi just stared at him. Looked him right in the eyes, trying to see into him the way he saw into everyone else he ever had reason to associate with. It was something he normally did without conscious thought, and an ability that had kept him and Sasuke alive. Aside from that, his previous livelihood had depended on him being able to assess a client at a glance.

He could remember when he'd first really gauged Naruto. Back when he'd charged into the bungalow on top of the mountain to find him putting the moves on Sasuke. Violent as that encounter had been, he'd been able to see an obsession with his little brother. It was in the way Naruto had held him, the intent look on his face just before that kiss…the look of inhuman rage when he'd made his presence known and the kiss hadn't happened. And the utter fury at learning that he, Itachi, meant to take Sasuke away from him. That was pretty much how he interpreted Naruto. As someone obsessed, who was prone to the wild, unreasoning actions of the obsessed.

_But I'm not Sasuke, so what the fuck is he doing stalking my ass?_

A flick of his eyes showed his house door ajar, the knob hanging drunkenly. He used this as a starting point by gesturing at it. "See you broke in again. Thought we talked about that?"

Naruto looked at the door. "I did call first, but you didn't answer."

"I was sleeping, you f-"

"And then I sent text messages, but you didn't reply."

Itachi waited. Naruto smiled and blinked until he said, "So…you broke in again."

"I really enjoyed our hunting yesterday. Not that we caught much, but your company was refreshing."

"I see. Is that why you're here? To tell me all that?"

"Yes. And to see you."

"See me?"

"Yes."

Itachi broke into a light sweat. Try as he might, he was drawing a blank on motive. That Naruto was now somehow fixated on him was glaringly obvious, but he couldn't find a _reason_. To be the focus of someone with Naruto's strength and insanity was bad enough, but if one couldn't even pinpoint the reason…

Moistening his lips, he edged backward, toward the chair opposite the couch. Once he'd lowered himself into it, he attempted a voice of calm. "You broke into my house again. I don't like that. And you and Sasuke aren't fighting again, so I don't understand why you're _here_. So late. Again."

Naruto's frown was slow to form. He spoke as if confused. "I thought the time was all right…it's not as late as the last time I came over. I'm not in your bedroom, like before. I know you didn't like that. And I knocked and called and messaged all with no answer."

It came to him that for Naruto calling and texting were only formalities. They had no bearing on whether or not he could enter the apartment. "Naruto?"

"Yes."

"Unless I open my door for you, you can't come into my house."

"…Why?"

"Because it's _my_ _house_."

"But you…I'm family. _We're_ family. You said I could come over at any time, that your house is mine. We're _family_."

Itachi rubbed his palms on the arms of the chair, thinking. He considered and discarded several responses in order to say, "So you're here now. Seeing me. What next?"

Naruto settled back with a broadening of his smile, relieved that whatever tension Itachi seemed to be feeling was gone.

* * *

Sasuke, engrossed as he was in the data coming up on the mid-quadrant screens, bit off a curse when his chair was suddenly grabbed from behind and forcibly swiveled around. He came face to face with Itachi. "Thought I told you to put your man in check?" Itachi spat.

"I did! I mean I told him he can't go over to your place so late and-"

"He was there last night." Itachi straightened up and went to his side of the room as he explained. "The next time he does it I'm dropping him. Fuck if I'll live like this, with his ass popping in whenever he wants."

"As if you could."

Itachi hesitated, reading the info he called up on screen. Seemed there was questionable activity going on over in Oto. "So maybe I can't take him," he reluctantly agreed. "But, dammit, _something's_ got to be done. What's his deal? Why's he so stuck on me of a sudden?"

"I don't know."

"You stop giving it up?"

"What? _No_."

"You sure?"

"Our sex life is fine."

Itachi turned in his seat to look at him. "Did you know he'd left the house last night?"

Now Sasuke had the grace to look abashed. "No, but-"

"Then shit ain't fine with you two." He resumed looking at his screen. "When's your next appointment with Iruka?"

"Uh…night after next, for the both of us. But Naruto has a sesh tonight."

"What time?"

"Six."

Itachi said no more.

* * *

"Ah, Naruto. Right on time, as usual." Iruka smiled as he moved toward the cushy chairs they used during their sessions. He sat, and waited for Naruto to take the seat opposite him. "Anything you'd care to bring up tonight?"

Naruto jerked a thumb at the door. "Was that Itachi I just saw leaving?"

"Yes. He wanted my advice on a matter."

"Didn't know you counseled anyone but me and Sasuke."

"Technically, I'm _not_ supposed to counsel anyone but you, and by extension Sasuke. However, this was a special case. Well?"

"What?" Naruto left off staring at the door. "Oh. Um…no, nothing in particular I'd like to bring up." He glanced at the door again.

Iruka noticed. "Why don't we discuss Itachi then? I understand he invited you to dinner. You and I had a session right before that, but since you never brought up what happened at the dinner at our last session…"

"The dinner was days ago. It went very well."

Noting Naruto's wide smile, Iruka said, "Care to elaborate? Give me details. Tell me everything that happened, how you felt, what was said."

"Oh, well…"

That took quite awhile. Talking about the dinner led naturally into his visits to Itachi, and Itachi's visit to him. He even held up his new phone. By the time he stopped speaking, the hour was done. Naruto sat calmly, a pleasant expression on his face, while Iruka came to a decision.

"Naruto, I have to be blunt, Itachi was here about you. Before I get into that, though, I must… No. First, how are things with Sasuke? You said he was upset that night."

"Yes. And I think things are much better now."

"He isn't still angry?"

"No."

"All right. And Itachi?"

"What about him?"

"Well…I distinctly recall your hatred of him. How you were privately dreading the dinner invite, and how you despaired of ever being able to live up to Sasuke's wish that you and his brother get over the animosity between you two. What's changed?"

Naruto blinked, frowning down at his knee. "I don't really…know how to explain it. He's very strange, isn't he?"

"Who, Itachi? I would call him many things, but strange? I'm afraid I don't follow."

"I didn't like him, but he's never actually _tried_ to take Sasuke from me. Not after that time all those years ago. And at dinner he was…what is the word, hospitable? He made me feel comfortable. He enjoyed my prank so much that he teased Sasuke about it, and got me to play along. He's very funny," Naruto finished with a chuckle. "I like how he talks to me."

Hanging on to every word, Iruka said, "And how does he talk to you?"

"Like I'm just an ordinary person. Just some man off the street. No…like _family_. He treats me with the same familiarity he does Sasuke, not like I'm the Hokage or the Vessel."

"I see. Naruto…why do you visit him so late at night?"

"I'm working during the day, you know that. And after, I go home to spend time with Sasuke."

"Yes, but…well I guess what I meant to ask is why you've broken his door. Not once, but twice. Itachi did say that he didn't like that, didn't he?"

"He did, but it's just a door."

"No, Naruto, it's not. It's his privacy. I'm sure you can understand that?"

"The notion of privacy? Of course. But he's my family now. My _brother_. Privacy means nothing to the needs of family."

"Where on earth did you hear that?"

"From you."

"I have _never_ -"

Naruto held up a hand. "Didn't you tell me, repeatedly, that family enjoys rules separate from those that other relationships enjoy? That essentially, where family is concerned, there are no rules? Wasn't it you who told me that Sasuke could say and do as he liked with me when it came to his brother? Back when he wanted to go and rescue him from Akatsuki? Maybe you didn't say it in so many words, but you specifically told me that coming between family members would have catastrophic results. I took that to mean that when it comes to family there are no boundaries. Was I wrong?"

"Well-"

"What about Itachi deliberately letting himself be caught in the first place? Putting Sasuke at risk the way he did in the name of keeping him safe? Or how about all the times, when I told you how much I hated Itachi, you told me that he was someone I was going to have to accept because he was Sasuke's brother and as much a part of him as the hair on his head? You have told me times without number how _important_ family is. How nothing –nothing!- comes before family. How it was even _more_ important than lovers. Didn't you say all that?"

Iruka was beginning to feel the unease Itachi had displayed. "I did, yes."

"And, correct me if I'm wrong, didn't you say that when family is in need, no request was too big? That family was where one turned to for help, where they received _unconditional_ acceptance, where the bonds were strongest? Too strong to be severed?"

"In an ideal family, yes. But Naruto-"

"Well, now I have family. I've never had that. Friends, yes. And I have Sasuke. But Sasuke's my lover. My…my man. Itachi's my brother. I want to get to know him. I like being around him, and he feels the same way. No one treats me like he does, not my friends nor Sasuke. I told you how Itachi came over to the bungalow? Oh it was fun, the way he snuck up on me. And the hunting afterward! We-"

Iruka rather thought that now would be an inappropriate time to point out that Itachi had been trying to teach him a lesson. "But breaking his door…violating his home that way…you have to understand how he sees it? He's expressly told you not to do that."

"But it's just a _door_. Sasuke can show up there at any time of the day or night, no matter what. Why can't I?"

It wasn't so hard for Iruka to understand that as intelligent as Naruto was, there were some things he simply couldn't understand. After all, there were large gaps in Naruto's social development. This, though, was proving more difficult than he realized. He couldn't very well tell Naruto that Sasuke was blood to Itachi, while Naruto was essentially still a stranger. Not without risking some negative side effects, but he saw no way around it. "There's a difference between you and Sasuke…"

Naruto listened. "Blood? Iruka, please. You've told me many times that family has nothing to do with blood, and everything to do with who loves and accepts you." He stood up. "This session has run double. I should get home."

"Will you be vising Itachi tonight?"

Naruto raised one brow as he was turning for the door. Catching the serious look on Iruka's face, he turned around completely and stared back. "Why…did he say he doesn't want me to? Is this really that big an issue? Come to think of it, why would he feel the need to come to you?"

"He felt like he wasn't making himself understood, and wanted advice on how to get through to you."

Naruto digested that. "Fine, I won't break his door again."

* * *

The few times he'd come home to find that Sasuke had worked late left him feeling unbalanced, but Sasuke was waiting for him, as usual. Somehow, he didn't feel his day was complete if he couldn't come home and have Sasuke's smile to greet him.

"You're late," Sasuke murmured. He was busy burying himself in Naruto's chest. "Was starting to get worried."

"Iruka."

"How'd it go?"

"Fine. Mmm…"

For several minutes Sasuke let himself be kissed, before gently pulling back. "Naruto…there's something I want to talk to you about."

"Not you too." Naruto released him with a groan. "I don't understand how everyone keeps telling me to make an effort, to try and see Itachi as family, to _accept_ him, but then the moment I do you same people are all over my head about it."

Half an hour later the argument was still going strong.

"-I mean your own privacy was sacred!" Sasuke shouted at Naruto's back. "I distinctly remember how violently you reacted to me just knocking on your door all those years ago. Imagine if I'd just broken in. How would you have felt then? Especially if I'd done it more than once?"

Naruto paused in the act of brushing his teeth, frowning at the sink. Back then, before he'd begun therapy or readjusted to society… He would have torn the person's throat out, asked questions later. Just the thought of someone waltzing into his place, even now, made him shudder. For a moment, he felt a wave of anxiety wash over him. But then his frown cleared. "That's different. If a stranger just walked in here I'd be upset. But Itachi is family. I didn't mind him coming over the other night."

"Are you kidding me? You would have killed him had he not flashed that light in your face!"

" _You_ go to his place unannounced all the time. I'm no stranger to your brother."

"Naruto," Sasuke said delicately. "You're not me. Even so, don't you think Itachi'd carve my ass to ribbons if I just broke into his place? Brother or not, if he called the authorities and told them I was trespassing, they would be able to cart me away. He has the right to refuse me entry. And I respect that by not just showing up there, much as you think I do. Unless someone lives in a place, they don't have the right to just walk the fuck in. He's known me my entire life, and trusts me, but the day I moved out, he took my set of keys. You're practically a stranger to him, so-"

"I know he doesn't know me _as well_ , but he _said_ that I'm welcome. People don't just say that, Sasuke, least of all your brother. He's cautious. I respect that…just as I'm aware of what it means that he accepts me as family. Maybe I went over a bit late, but I agreed not to break his door again, all right? Christ, leave it alone." Naruto shut off the faucet and shouldered past a frowning Sasuke. "Itachi himself doesn't seem to have as big a problem with my visits as you and Iruka do. I'm done talking about this."

Sasuke wasn't. He waited until they were in bed to say, "You don't understand. Itachi's…particular…about his space. You _cannot_ just show _up_ there-"

"And I said I wouldn't for fuck's sake," Naruto turned over and roared. "How many times do I have to say that I fucking get it? _I get it!_ But not you, or Iruka, or anyone is going to keep me from doing what I want to do."

Sasuke sat stiffly, staring at Naruto's enraged face until the latter angrily turned around again and slammed his head on the pillow. Only when the pillow had been furiously adjusted and Naruto's arms just as irritably folded, did he deign to relax a bit. He took a deep, quiet breath, and gingerly laid himself on his own pillow. Moving silently, he reached for his phone.

-oOo-

Itachi read the text: NO LUCK. As instructed, he called Iruka, who answered on the first ring. "Well?" the Jounin said anxiously.

"Sasuke couldn't get through to him. What happened when you spoke to him?" There was a sigh from the other end that Itachi didn't much care for.

"I'm afraid it's not good. I was reluctant to believe you when you said he's obsessed, and I'm still hesitant to use that term. Obsession is what Naruto feels for Sasuke; something that absolutely cannot be reasoned with. Ordinarily the term simply means to be continuously preoccupied with something, but for Naruto… Anyway, I would say he is merely fixated on you for the simple fact that I believe he _can_ be reasoned with on this matter."

Itachi switched the phone to his other ear, leaning on the bar island in the kitchen. "This is the fuck who took out Akatsuki. And he's fixated on me? Do I need to list the many ways this blows? He _broke_ my _fucking_ _door_. Twice."

"He's agreed not to do that anymore."

"Great. That's perfect."

"Itachi…I don't believe this fixation will go away anytime soon. Naruto sees you as his family, and I can tell you that family is something he's never had. Clearly the notion of having family now is a potent one. I believe a little patience is in order. Once he becomes accustomed to the concept of having someone other than Sasuke in his life, his behavior should calm down considerably. Right now, he's enacting the opposite of the solitary behavior he's exhibited for most of his life. Expect some extremes, like…the door."

"I can handle some shit, all right, don't get me wrong. But I cannot have his big ass walking in here. I can't. Not here. He can do whatever in hell he wants to do _outside my house_."

"Well, like I said, he's agreed not to break in."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

Mo called from the bedroom just then to ask when he was coming to bed. Itachi hung up the phone.

* * *

Naruto was enraptured over the next couple of weeks. True to his word he didn't break into Itachi's place again, but then he hardly needed to; Itachi kept in constant contact with him. Even so, he made sure to visit Itachi nearly every night. He and Itachi spoke on a variety of topics, until Itachi ceased to be home in the evenings. He wasn't disappointed for long. Itachi made a point of visiting him at work. Often. Especially while he was in important meetings. To say he was pleased at being so hounded and beset would have been an understatement; he basked in the attention.

Itachi would barge into the conference room, face wreathed in smiles, and hail Naruto heartily. He usually had a bucket or two of fried chicken under his arm as well, for Naruto and whomever he was meeting with. That happened with increasing frequency, until one ambassador took Naruto aside and told him in no uncertain terms that he could no longer continue negotiations under such deplorable conditions. That this sentiment was echoed by several others was the only reason Naruto approached Itachi and told him that his meetings were sadly not to be interrupted. He'd eyed Itachi warily afterwards.

But Itachi, after appearing crestfallen for a moment, had brightened up. "It's cool, man. We can hang at your place. When can we come over?"

"My place? Who's we?"

"Me, Mo, and the kids, who else? We're your family, right?"

"Oh. Of course. And anytime."

"Anytime at all?"

Naruto smiled. "I look forward to it."

He'd gone home that night to find Sasuke staring at his brother with hooded eyes, and Itachi himself romping around the living room floor in the bungalow with both his children. Mo was in his kitchen, handling his dishes as she ate the last of the pot roast Sasuke had made the night before. That had unsettled him a bit, as had the sheer noise Ichi seemed capable of. He'd stood there a moment, staring at the scene on the floor, until Itachi caught sight of him and hurried over.

"Dude, where's your TV?"

"I don't have one," Naruto said. "What-"

"Ah, well…the kids want to play with their uncle. You mind?"

"With Sasuke?"

"Nah, man. You." And he shoved the girl child at him. Naruto caught her reflexively.

Sasuke stalked off to the bedroom and slammed the door.

-oOo-

Naruto, having no experience with children so young, was fascinated by the antics and mannerisms of Ichi and Kayo for all of twenty minutes. He neither understood their whining and babbling, nor cared for how the boy seemed intent on touching every object in the house. Mo had yet to leave his kitchen, and Itachi seemed to be on a lengthy phone call. Holding the squalling Kayo carefully, he made his way to the bedroom.

Sasuke spoke without turning over. "Send their asses home."

"Wouldn't that be rude?"

Sasuke turned over and sat up slowly, staring at Naruto with narrowed eyes. "You're impossible. What do you think is going on here?"

"Your brother's visiting."

"Oh, so he's _my_ brother now. Can't you see he's trying to teach you a lesson? He's trying to show you how intrusive he feels your visits and attention are."

Naruto gazed at him unblinkingly for several moments, unspeakably hurt that Sasuke would say such a thing. If that were true…"That-" He swallowed. "That would mean he finds my visits and attentions unwelcome. He hasn't said that. And I think your brother is the kind of person to say what he wants, regardless."

"Ordinarily, that's true."

"So if he finds my company so repulsive why hasn't he said anything? I won't believe he's afraid to speak his mind to me. He's the only man alive to threaten me and live to tell of it. He even called me an asshole. I'd kill a man for a lesser insult."

Sasuke stared. It was disconcerting to see Naruto's face settle into the stoic lines they'd been in when he'd first seen him in that convenience store and know that he'd hurt him with his words just now. Worse to see him awkwardly bouncing his niece as he calmly spoke of killing. "I didn't mean-"

"No, that's exactly what you meant. According to you, your brother finds me a nuisance. Isn't that what you said?" He was no longer bouncing Kayo. His entire body had gone still, and his voice was quiet with budding anger.

Sasuke eased across the bed toward his niece, and reached for her. "I only meant-"

Naruto dropped the baby and turned for the door. Sasuke barely caught her before she toppled over the side of the mattress.

-oOo-

Out in the living room, Naruto stepped over a howling Ichi, right up to where Itachi was sprawled in his armchair. Without a word, he took the phone Itachi was speaking into and shut it with a snap.

Itachi was on his feet instantly. "Son of a bitch! The fuck you think you're doing?"

"That's what I would like to know," Naruto retorted, tossing the phone back at him. "Am I a burden? Are my visits, is my…company…unwelcome?"

The angry curses died in his throat. Itachi measured the glint in those blue eyes and grit his teeth, thinking. Somehow he didn't think throwing on the retarded smile he usually used around Naruto would work this time. "I don't know where you're getting your information-"

"Sasuke." A muscle in Naruto's jaw flexed, and those eyes seemed to grow an extra layer of ice. "Have you been playing me? Making fun of me with your office visits? Interrupting my meetings? Now that I think about it, someone of your legendary intelligence would know better than to interrupt my meetings time and again." There was no doubt now of the ice in both eyes and voice. The temperature in the room seemed to condense with the threat.

"Mo, take the kids and wait for me in the car." When she'd gathered her children –Sasuke had come into the living room with Kayo- Itachi waited until the door closed behind her before adopting a serious tone and expression. "Of course not. But you seemed like the kind of person who'd enjoy that sort of thing. I was just trying to make a connection with you, treating you as you treat me. That's how people are supposed to treat others…as they themselves are treated. Did I fuck up, man? I thought we were _here_." He wagged his middle and index fingers back and forth between his eyes and Naruto's, voice now bewildered.

Naruto continued to glare at him suspiciously.

"You came over often, so I responded in kind. I'm sorry, man…if it bugs you-"

The tension and suspicion broke in Naruto; the air in the room lightened, and the frown between his eyes smoothed out. Sasuke put a hand on the archway between living room and kitchen as he sagged from his point of vigilance. The muscles in Itachi's body relaxed only a little. "No, it doesn't," Naruto said. "But I'm not used to your children. In future, leave them home when you visit me."

"Yeah man, whatev-"

"If I were bothering you, you'd tell me, right?"

"In a heartbeat."

And with that, Naruto gave a small, satisfied nod.

* * *

At work the next day, Sasuke cornered him. "You fucking liar."

Itachi was unapologetic. "Your shrink said that to disabuse your hubby of the apparent welcome with which I view his visits might have negative effects. And the fucker was right. Did you see him last night? I'd've told him the truth and that'd have been the end of my crack. Nah, man. Iruka says he's working on a solution and will be over in a few days to discuss it with me. Wants you there as well so it can be a joint effort. Until then, I will continue to lie through my teeth and consider myself lucky."

Sasuke eyed him sadly. "You're really afraid of him?"

Itachi swiveled in his chair incredulously, facing him. "Yes! You're not?"

"No. Naruto would never hurt me. And I don't think he'd ever hurt you now, either. You didn't see him last night, when I told him he was bugging you. That hurt _him_. He's only as hard and brutal as he is because deep inside there are parts of him that are really vulnerable. Part of him is still that helpless victim of Danzo. Iruka said that part of him might never heal and he compensates for it in all these other ways. The OCD, the personality quirks…its all him trying to function despite being broken in a few areas."

Itachi frowned at a few under-techs working on the far side of the room, considering. "That may be, but then why the bleeding fuck did you open your mouth about me in the first place? Telling him he's bugging me, what the fuck."

"I don't know. I should have considered it. But you lying to him isn't a good idea. And if you didn't want him in your ass, you shouldn't have told him he was family."

"You started that shit, not me."

"Yeah, well…I didn't think he'd take it this far."

Itachi snorted, turning back to his screens. "Who's supposed to know, if not you? You're the one living with him."

When Sasuke got home, it was to find a note from Naruto stuck to the front door. _Meditating. Don't come after me._ Sasuke read it twice, before looking off into the forest. "Shit."

* * *

During the three and a half years he'd been separated from Sasuke, he'd left the mountain to meditate often. Sometimes it helped, but more often than not he'd been forced to go back to the bungalow or his office as unsettled as he'd been before he'd left.

Now was the same. Everyone kept telling him that what he was doing with Itachi was wrong that it was too much…but Itachi, he'd found, was an astute judge of character. Surely he understood that he, Naruto, had issues? That though he was Hokage, he still struggled with everyday social cues and behavior? The few people in his inner circle were aware of this, with the result that he didn't necessarily have to try and conform to what was viewed as acceptable behavior. And as for the people he worked with, people like ambassadors, or other Kage…they viewed him with respect. If he displayed any erratic behavior it was simply explained away by the fact of him being a Vessel, or having lived as a hermit for so many years. He rather thought that Itachi understood all this, and accepted it too.

So the nagging suspicion that he was annoying Itachi, despite Itachi's assurances otherwise, upset him more than he could say. Nor could he readily explain how thoroughly the thought of Itachi had become entrenched in his breast. He only knew that there had never been anyone like Itachi in his life, someone who called him family. Jiraiya himself hadn't even treated him so familiarly.

For the first time in decades he thought of his mother. He'd known her such a brief time. Hours, really, and yet he could recall the love in her eyes at seeing him. Seeing her son grown to a teenager. Her rage at seeing him restrained, at learning he would be tortured as she was. She'd been so weak, and yet there'd been a small surge of life in her at seeing him and learning his fate. Witnessing her feeble struggles to reach him….and then watching her murdered…

Naruto's heart seized up in his chest now, stuttering and thumping at the remembered anguish. He hastily disconnected himself from the memory, but his chakra was already unleashed, blazing around him like an inferno and singing the surrounding forest. Several trees were incinerated immediately while others that were farther away burst into flame. He breathed with difficulty for a time, gasping and pressing one palm over his mouth. The other hand clutched at his shirt, over his heart. His eyes squeezed shut as he strove for control- it hadn't gotten away from him like this in years, not since he was a teen. Bringing it back was hard. For a little while he cried, as the memories refused to be put away…but then they went, and he was able to draw in a deep breath.

It was some little while later until he could lower his hand. He was able to put his chakra away and swallow shakily. Gazing up at the sky, he said a small, private prayer of thanks that his memories hadn't progressed to what happened after his mother died. That was something he never thought about, ever. Bad as his mother's murder was, it was nothing compared to Danzo. Nothing.

She'd loved him. He knew that much. She'd been his mother, his family, and she'd loved him. Suffered for him. Seeing the bond Sasuke had with his brother, he could admit, here and now, that a large part of the animosity he'd had for Itachi hadn't been so much about jealousy over his hold on Sasuke, as it had been jealousy over their bond. Sasuke had family. He didn't.

It had never dawned on him, not until this moment, how much he'd _wanted_ a family. How much he secretly craved someone, anyone, who would fill that void in him. Someone who would take him, and help him in the ways he couldn't help himself. Touch the places in him that not even Sasuke could reach. And he believed, truly and utterly, that he'd found that with Itachi. They'd gotten off to a rocky start, but Itachi was the only person he knew of, the _only_ _one_ , who knew exactly what he was and wasn't remotely afraid of him. Who dared to threaten him. Who treated him with a familiarity no one anywhere else did. If there existed anyone who could be a brother to him, a real brother, it was Itachi. So the idea that he was pushing the man away, that he wasn't, in fact, welcome, was more than he could stand.

_I need to see him._ Naruto vanished from the forest.

* * *

"And that's the best you can come up with? That you don't know how to stop Naruto?" Itachi said flatly.

Iruka shrugged uncomfortably. "I'm afraid so. Every scenario I come up with has a violent end. The simple fact of it is this: once Naruto takes a notion into his mind, he can't be _made_ to release it. You grossly misjudge the abilities or function of a psychologist if you think I can forcibly alter Naruto's behavior –or anyone's- in any way. I'm there to help him reach healthy decisions on his own, but if he simply refuses, then that's it. I will say, though, that your actions haven't helped matters. Your attempts to teach him a lesson were viewed as the very invitation he's been craving. Had you consulted me first, I would have advised you against it."

They were all gathered in Itachi's living room, standing in a worried cluster. Kakashi was present, as were Sasuke and Mo. The kids were asleep. "What about medication?" Itachi said after a moment of thought.

"I don't recommend that. Not only because it would be forcing Naruto in an unpleasant way, but because I'm not even sure drugs would work on him. I'm fairly certain his metabolism would neutralize them."

Itachi shook his head, staring at the floor. "I can't live like this. I _can't_."

Sasuke'd had his arms tightly crossed throughout the entire conversation. He spoke up now. "I still say you're overreacting. He won't hurt you. He's sort of adopted you, you heard Iruka. You're family to him now, and Naruto's never had that. He's not going to hurt you."

Iruka watched the glare Itachi gave Sasuke with interest, understanding something of a sudden. "It's not about fear of being hurt," he said in answer to Sasuke. "It's about your brother having trust issues. He doesn't tell you much about the inner workings of his mind, does he."

Itachi snorted, but Sasuke frowned. "He doesn't need to. I know how he thinks, and I know he sees this as a violation of his space-"

"Oh, it's more than that," Iruka said. "Much more than that, but that's for your brother to discuss with you. Itachi, my good man, I will say this. You and Naruto are pretty much in the same predicament. You, like him, need to start letting people in. True, Naruto already seems to be doing that, but for the majority of his life, he was a fortress unto himself. With troubling results, as you can see. At some point, you're going to have to accept that your life, like his, is changed now. You each have more people in your lives, and are living out in society. No man can remain an island."

While they digested this, Kakashi lifted his head, his eyes sharpening. "We've got company."

But by then they all felt the pressure of an enormous chakra source. As one, they looked toward the door.

During the past week, Itachi had had his door replaced with a solid steel one. Getting through it now required his or Mo's palm print. It was a ludicrous piece of hardware to have in such an unassuming apartment building, but it was the only way he felt remotely comfortable in his place now, and only a little at that.

There was no knock. As they all watched, they felt a small spike in the chakra, before the area around the palm screen slowly began to glow red. "Are you _seeing_ this?" Itachi hissed, now past all endurance.

Iruka hurriedly stepped over to him and spoke in a low voice, for his ears alone. "I can't get through to him, but perhaps you can. You are, after all, the focus of his attention. And I am well acquainted with your intellect. It could very well be that you'll see a solution where I don't. Remember," Iruka went on as they all watched a hole being melted through the metal, "You're going to have to come out of the fortress you have up around your life too. Perhaps you two can meet each other halfway."

The glowing, smoking blobs of steel fell to the floor, where they immediately ate through the wood. A hand lit with chakra hooked into the still-glowing hole, and wrenched backward sharply. The entire door was yanked away, with a tortured shriek of metal, leaving ragged chunks of wood where steel panels had been affixed to the doorway to hold the door. The door was carried and gently set aside somewhere in the hall, before Naruto ducked in through the opening.

* * *

Naruto stopped short at seeing the small crowd of faces looking at him, but he only had eyes for Itachi. Itachi, whose eyes were red and whose face was set in an expression of disapproval. Something in Naruto quaked, until those red eyes went pointedly to the ruined doorway. A tiny shudder of relief went through him. "I'm sorry about the door," Naruto began, but then he stopped. He had no idea what to say, or how to voice all the needs and confusion in him. He stood there, while they stared at him.

"It seems like you want to speak to Itachi privately," Iruka said after a moment. He gathered Kakashi and Sasuke with a glance, and headed for the doorway.

Sasuke stopped to lay a hand on Naruto's arm, murmuring something that Naruto didn't answer. Mo moved closer to Itachi, but he tipped his head at Sasuke, silently telling her to go with him. The kids were left behind. Before Iruka disappeared down the hall, he spared a single, meaningful glance for Itachi.

Itachi caught the reminder. He was on his own with this.

Naruto stepped aside as they all filed out. When he turned back toward him, Itachi made calm and careful note of the man's agitation. The fact that his chakra was still unsettled wasn't lost on him. Deciding to keep his eyes on. He remained where he was, in the living room, while Naruto likewise stayed by the door. They regarded each other in silence.

"Are you afraid of me?" Naruto asked at last. "I didn't think you were."

Itachi considered his answer carefully. Naruto's voice had been a bit unsteady just now. He was monitoring everything, every gesture Naruto made, every twitch and twinge on his face, every syllable he spoke. Scenarios played out in his mind, dozens at a time, in rapid sequence. Some were discarded immediately, others after a few moves, while others after still more moves. One came to him with the least possibility of physical harm. "Yes and no."

Naruto's face cracked a bit at the word yes, and just as quickly righted itself at the word no. " _Are you_?"

More careful deliberation this time. "No."

"Your eyes."

"My door."

Naruto blinked in thought, trying to understand. When he did he almost smiled, his relief was so great. "You're angry."

"You could say that."

Naruto took a step toward him, but stopped when Itachi's lips thinned. "I…had to see you."

"A call would have been nice. A knock, even. That," he said, pointing his chin at the hole formerly known as his door, "is the last straw."

"What do you mean?" Naruto didn't like the edge he heard in that statement. It sounded disturbingly close to a threat of some kind.

Itachi reigned in his anger and redirected it. That was for later. Or never, considering it was Naruto he was dealing with. "What'd you need to see me about?"

Now Naruto did approach, ignoring the way Itachi tensed. "I want to know if…" he hesitated, suddenly guarded. It occurred to him that he was about to open himself in a way he'd never willingly opened himself to anyone before. Sasuke had entered his heart in spite of his walls, but this…this was different. He was about to consciously give Itachi the power to hurt him. To hurt him maybe as much as the separation from Sasuke had done. _But I have to know._ "I want to know if you're really a brother to me. I know I'm…strange to you, to many people, sometimes. But I have to know if you meant it when you said I was your family. Am I?"

Itachi watched in complete fascination as those blue eyes welled with tears that Naruto seemed to be completely unaware of, and all but felt the man tearing at his resistance. Iruka was right. He was a fortress. Had to be. It was the only way he'd been able to survive his lifestyle, and thus keep himself and Sasuke alive. And here Naruto was, ripping his walls away much as he'd ripped his way into the apartment only minutes ago. Forcing himself inside, forcing Itachi into a corner.

For a moment, just a moment, he considered fighting the intrusion. He could. If he put his mind to it, he could shut Naruto out, disappear…and remain a fortress. Remain isolated. Keep running, in other words. Oh, he'd made a lot of progress, getting married, having kids. But all he'd done was expand his walls. Mo and the kids lived on his little island, along with Sasuke…and he suddenly realized that his own son and daughter might very well end up with issues of their own if he didn't loosen up a bit. Shit _was_ different now. He _was_ married, and his children didn't need the burdens he'd had to heap on Sasuke to make sure they stayed safe.

_Am I your family?_ Naruto had asked.

He looked at Naruto, really looked into him. Naruto made this easy, unguarded as he was at the moment. This time he was able to see past the weirdness to what was really there. A little, at least. "Yes."

Naruto's tears, as yet unshed, swelled until one spilled over. "Itachi-"

"Because somewhere inside I think you're as broken as I am."

"You-?"

Itachi had to look away, swallowing. "I think you and I need to talk," he said slowly. "But not now. I can't do this now, Christ."

Naruto nodded, looking at the floor. Then he looked back up at Itachi. "When?"

"Come over tomorrow. Tomorrow night."

"Oh. All right…" he stood there a moment more, though, until Itachi finally released his Sharingan. "Tomorrow, then."

* * *

Itachi spent the following day doing research. Mo took the kids and left in the morning, with Sasuke, whom he'd called and apprised of the plans he'd put in place some days ago. Movers came and went in the apartment for a while, taking his furniture. They were done by mid-morning, though. Sasuke texted a little while later, saying the movers had finished setting the furniture up in the new place, and that he was seeing to Mo, making sure she rested while he watched the kids. He turned his phone off after that. It was something he rarely did, but he didn't want any interruptions. He'd trust Sasuke to handle anything that might crop up.

Back to his research. Being head of TD had its advantages. He had only to call up the files in question, access them with codes only he and Sasuke were privileged to, and thus gain entry into restricted data.

Iruka said he was on his own. For him to come up with a way to get through to Naruto himself. As plans went, what he intended tonight wasn't without risks, but he could see no alternative. Drumming the fingers of one hand on a knee, he used the other to cover his mouth as he thought. Naruto's plea the previous night came back to him. Had never really left his thoughts, if he was honest. He didn't know if he had the balls to actually _do_ what he planned tonight, but he intended to damn well try.

Shaking slightly, he reached out and closed his laptop.

By the time Naruto showed up that evening, he was sitting at the bar island, on a stool he'd had the movers leave. The stool next to him was empty. He nodded at Naruto to enter, gesturing at the spare stool at the same time.

-oOo-

Naruto hesitated. The doorway hadn't been repaired. Looking at it, and at where Itachi sat in the dark apartment, he carefully stepped inside. As he slowly rounded the bar island, Itachi pushed a stool toward him with his foot. The faint scraping sound this action caused was the only noise in the apartment. He didn't need to look to know they were alone, but he did spend a moment or two making note of the lack of furniture. He wanted to ask about this, but truthfully he was too nervous.

He hadn't gone into the office today, leaving Kakashi to stand in for him again. Just what it was Itachi could want to speak to him about, he had no idea, but speculation had left him incapacitated with worry. Itachi had said he was family once again last night, but even he could tell that the answer had been laden with other things. Things that had gone unspoken. It was wondering what these unspoken things could be that had oppressed him today. And here it was Itachi looked like he was leaving. He was sure it was his fault. That had him stiff with tension and dread. Whatever was going to be said tonight would be unpleasant, he was sure of it.

Straightening his spine, he leaned one forearm on the island, sitting on his stool so that he faced Itachi's profile. Itachi himself sat with his elbows on the island, hands steepled over his mouth, and staring across the empty living room. To still his sudden tremor of nerves, Naruto clenched the hand he had on the island into a fist. "I'm here."

A small, mirthless snort left Itachi, but he didn't address the comment. Instead, he continued to stare across the room, his eyes moving idly as if he were watching some invisible play. When he finally lowered his hands to clasp them in front of himself, Naruto thought he'd reached his breaking point. He was wound tight enough to shatter at the slightest provocation. But then Itachi, still looking across the room, began speaking.

"You asked me a question last night."

Naruto swallowed. "Yes."

"Asked me if you were my family."

"Yes."

"I answered you, but I…lied."

Naruto felt a stab punch through his chest, and clenched his jaws. The fist he had on the island tightened until he was able to pry his jaws apart. "I'm not…you don't accept me?"

Itachi, very aware of the man's chakra slowly escalating, continued to remain outwardly calm, though every hair on the nape of his neck stood on end. "What I mean is I answered prematurely. I want to accept you, was basically what my answer meant last night. But I can't. Not until I make a few things clear to you."

"Then all the times you said I was family you _were_ lying."

"Not exactly. Like it or not, you're with my brother. That makes you something, that's for damn sure. I can accept that you're part of him now, and since he's part of me I guess that makes you family."

"Then how did you lie?"

Now Itachi glanced at him. "Because I haven't accepted you into _my_ life. I didn't want to."

Naruto, thinking of the recent days and weeks of Itachi's attention, felt the stab of pain twist deeper. "But now you do?"

"I'm willing to try. But like I said, I need to make a few things clear to you. I…get…that you've never had family, and that you're expecting me to fill that role for you, but it's not as simple as me just saying you're my family. I think there's shit about you, about me too for that matter, that needs to be discussed before you and I can reach that point."

Naruto blinked. "Is this about the door again?"

Itachi looked at him for a long time. "Yeah, I guess it is. About a door I never open." He switched to looking at his hands, separating them so that he could stare at his palms. He seemed to see strange things there.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked at last.

Frowning, Itachi spoke in a low voice, one that seemed to bypass his trademark foul language completely. "All my life, I've had this…understanding, I guess you could say. I had this understanding that the buck stopped with me. That I was _it_ , that as far as protection went Sasuke and I were going to live or die based on my actions. Most people grow up knowing they have parents to fill that role. To protect them. That there's this shield between them and the rest of the world. I never had that. Oh, I had parents, and they tried to shield me, but it killed them. Saw it happen. When you're small, you think there's nothing in the world that can get to you so long as your parents are around. They're absolute. Untouchable. They're the meaning of safety. That if anything ever got through them, you'd be screwed."

Naruto, spellbound, leaned forward when Itachi paused. He couldn't say that he'd ever had such a belief as a child, but then he'd never had parents.

"So they died," Itachi continued matter-of-factly. "And there was Sasuke. Mantle was on my shoulders now. I was the shield." He looked up from his hands, staring across the living room as if searching for something. "I didn't forget that for an instant, that all Sasuke had was me. There was nothing between him and death but one small, weak six-year-old. Even growing up, getting older, a part of me always saw myself as that scared kid. Running. Running, running, running. Shielding Sasuke. But no one to shield me. No one to hold out their hand and say, 'It's okay, buddy. I got this. Take a break.' There was no one to lean on. No one to trust. No one I could entrust my safety to, or Sasuke's." He glanced at Naruto again. "I'm going to tell you something I've never told Sasuke."

"Oh. Okay," Naruto said when Itachi seemed to hesitate. "I won't tell him."

"Sometimes I wanted to leave him. Sometimes, before I'd figured out how to work, when I couldn't find money or food, or diapers, I just wanted to leave him in some alley and not look back. Find some sweet family to take me in. Feed me. Take care of me. Forget all about Sasuke. Once…" Itachi swallowed. Turned his head aside. "Once I thought about killing him. So he wouldn't have to suffer. I was _six_. He went hungry, was filthy, got bumped and scraped…I thought if he wasn't around to suffer then it would be all right. I'd find a family and just live with them. But if I took him with me to a family, there'd be all sorts of questions. A report. We'd be found. Better if he was dead. I remember…sitting in some abandoned house. Sasuke in my arms, looking up at me. He hardly ever cried. It was like he knew we had to be quiet to survive. I had him there in my arms that time –he couldn't have been more than a few weeks old by then- and I wanted to kill him. I put my hand over his nose and mouth…but I couldn't." Itachi's voice was clogged, and it was several moments before he could go on. "I _couldn't_. He started sucking my hand, hungry as usual, and I just couldn't." Itachi took a deep breath. "I don't know how he survived that first month with me, or the next, but I never betrayed him again. Never again. But I remember."

Staring hard at Itachi's profile, Naruto felt a fullness in his throat. He knew what it was to be so utterly alone in one's misery. Alone, and to know that there was no one alive who could possibly help.

"It made going on easier," Itachi said sometime later. "Remembering that lapse I had. Anytime I felt like giving up I'd remember my hand on his face. It made the sacrifices possible. My job. Letting my body be used. Killing. The vigilance. The constant, never-ending lookout for a suspicious glance, or any sense that Akatsuki was getting close. I didn't have friends. Couldn't go off for an hour and have fun. I had a job to do. That was my life. Lived with fear so much that eventually I stopped feeling it. It mutated, somehow. Became this weird ability to think ahead, analyze. The more afraid I was, the better I could think. That and the fact that I _had_ to adapt. There was no one to protect me. If I went down, then Sasuke was history. No one could be trusted. Anyone at all could be an enemy, or know someone who knew someone who knew the enemy. _I couldn't let anyone in._ Not if we wanted to live. Do you understand me?"

"I think so, yes." Naruto gave a small nod. "Safety was everything to you. And to stay safe, you had to isolate yourself."

"Yes. No one was allowed to get close. If I met someone on the street, and then later that same person happened to see me again and said hi, that was it. Sasuke and I were gone within the hour. It's a habit that kept us alive. Which brings me to you."

"Me?" Naruto's attention sharpened. "But I would never hurt you. And there's no one after you anymore."

Itachi studied him. "Akatsuki's dead, but as far as I'm concerned there will always be someone after me. I've lived so long with the belief that safety's only a dream that I can't be any other way, Naruto. Which means my space, my personal space, is sacred. It's my own little pocket of safety. I've progressed to the point where I can stay in one place now, and I've obviously let Mo into my life, but my space is my space. My only sanctuary in the world." He stopped there, letting that sink in. Seeing no change in Naruto's face, he took a deep breath. "I did some digging on you."

"Did you? My files are restricted."

Ignoring that, Itachi chose his words carefully. "Danzo did a lot of shit to you." Naruto flinched hard, but he went on. "I read the reports. The ones the Fifth found down in that place you were kept. Read them. Made what Akatsuki did to me seem like foreplay. You don't talk about that, do you."

He was panting, he realized. Trembling. Naruto shook his head. "No. You can't…you can't talk about this, not…not ever-"

"Right." Itachi studied him closely, monitoring the threat of chakra while calculating his odds of escape if he went on. "It's off limits. Period. That whole time, but especially what Danzo did to you."

Naruto, hanging onto his control with both hands, stood up and turned away. "Stop. Stop it, you can't _say these things!_ " The memories, so abruptly uncovered, threatened to consume him where he stood.

Itachi watched the chakra snap into being. Looked at the way it peeled the linoleum off the kitchen floor, how it cracked the walls. It washed over him in stiff, hot waves where he sat, but he pressed on anyway. "If you're my family, and I'm yours, it's important we know these things about each other. It's even more important that we _respect_ these things." He paused. "There was one particular thing that Danzo used to do you. You know what I'm talking about. That thing with the-"

" _NO!_ " Naruto roared, clamping his hands around his head.

The cabinets behind him suddenly ripped away from the floor, to crash against the bathroom door. Itachi himself was buffeted and shoved by the storm. He stood against the wall, a forearm raised over his face. The light fixture overhead blew out and both stools seemed to soften and melt where they stood. The chakra affected different things in different ways, Itachi saw, but he went on. "Exactly. There are some things about you that are simply never to be mentioned. So imagine how you'd feel if I tried to _do_ that thing to you. That thing Danzo did."

Naruto's head swung toward him. The chakra cloak was now complete. It surged when Naruto looked at him, sweeping around the apartment to blow out all the windows and lights, and reduce all the wall cabinets in the kitchen to so much kindling. Itachi was pressed to the wall by the force of it.

"That's what you breaking into my place is like."

As quickly as it had sprung up, the chakra died. There was heavy silence in the aftermath. Naruto's face wore a look of pure horror.

"That's what it's like," Itachi said again. He lowered his arm. "There are some things you and I just can't handle, and for me it's any violation of my space. It makes me feel unsafe. As it is, I can't even live here anymore because, in my mind, the apartment's been compromised. No longer safe. I'm sure you'll find out where I've moved to, just as I'm sure you could get in to that place as well without even trying. But as long as you don't force the issue, I'll be able to _feel_ safe. I hope you understand now."

Naruto was all awkward fidgeting. The abrupt cessation of his chakra, and the sudden understanding of what he'd been doing to Itachi left him severely off-balance. "I…yes. Itachi... I'm _so_ _sorry_. I didn't understand before, but I do now. Never…I will never enter your space again without your authorization. Your permission. I will n-"

"That's good. Because I wasn't quite finished with the subject of you being family. Now that you understand how and why I never let anyone in, I hope you can appreciate what I mean when I say that I _am_ letting _you_ in."

Feeling an odd mixture of anxiety, shame, and crushing guilt, Naruto stood staring at him and nervously wringing his hands. "Is this…the door again? I swear I won't-"

"It's not the door. It's what I said before. About having no shield. The buck stopping with me. Me being the only protection I could count on for myself because there was…no one…else." Itachi wet his lips, trying to get the rest out. "I put Sasuke in your hands. That wasn't easy for me. But you're asking to be my brother now and…it's hard. Hard for me to trust you. You do some scary-ass shit, and it's just _hard_ , man. The last people I trusted to have my back died right in front of me. Tsunade offered to protect me too, and she's dead. But…Iruka was right. I have a wife. Kids. And I can't keep doing this alone. I've never had a big brother. _I'm_ the big brother. So…I'm letting you in. I'm _trusting_ you. To be my family. My brother. To…to have my back."

And now he _really_ understood everything. Naruto stood frozen in place as full comprehension dawned in his mind, burning away memories of Danzo and suffusing him with fiery heat of a different sort. Itachi stared into his eyes without blinking, waiting for him to speak, and he held the gaze with a firm one of his own. In complete awareness of what he was being given, what he was being offered, Naruto took two measured steps forward and put a shaking hand on Itachi's shoulder. He needed a moment to calm his racing pulse down, but when he spoke, it was with rock-solid conviction. A sworn promise. "I am your brother, Itachi. As long as I live, you and yours are safe. May I prove worthy of your trust." Then, recalling something said earlier, he added. "You can take a break."

It was the eyes, Itachi decided. He could hear the promise in Naruto's tone, but it was those blue eyes, so steady in the dark. Naruto wasn't just making a promise, he was stating a fact.

The most alarming sensation came over him then. Something, some weight he'd been carrying since he was six was suddenly just…gone. He felt inexplicably naked. As if something vital and important had been taken from him. Fear rose up to fill the sudden void, fear he hadn't felt in years, but then, just as suddenly, he was being held against a solid chest. He realized Naruto's strong arms were around him, that his own hands were over his face, and that he was crying. He couldn't remember crying real tears since before his parents had died.

Naruto's arms squeezed him. One of his hands smoothed over his back, his hair, his neck, and he just let it happen. Just let the burden go at long last as he cried as quietly as possible into Naruto's shoulder.

* * *

_One week later…_

* * *

The new place was a pleasant two story house on the quieter side of town. He'd left the office early today to help Mo with the kids. Both Kayo and The Terror were fed and put to bed. Mo had turned in an hour ago. Sasuke had called to report that he'd locked up at the job, and was heading home himself. A glance at the clock showed it to be half past seven. He anticipated a quiet evening reading the paper, before he turned in himself.

The doorbell rang.

He waited, but the ring wasn't repeated. After a minute he went to the door, and pulled it open.

"May I come in?" Naruto asked with a quiet smile.

Smiling himself, Itachi stepped aside and opened the door wider. "'Course, man. Thanks for dropping by."

As Naruto was walking in, Itachi shut the door thoughtfully. Looking at where the big man calmly waited, he realized something. That the unease he used to feel around Naruto was gone. It had been replaced with something he couldn't immediately name. Something he hadn't felt since he was small. It brought to mind being tucked into bed by gentle hands. A deep voice reading him bedtime stories while he was ensconced in a strong embrace. The smell of his home when his mother was cooking, and his dad sitting in a corner reading.

Security.

_I can stop running_ , he thought. Studying the way Naruto looked at him, he knew he was finally safe. Knew it beyond the shadow of a doubt. Knew that the things that used to scare him about Naruto were now the very things that allowed him to feel at peace. To recognize him as the shield he'd been searching for his entire life. _And this one won't break. He_ is _my brother now._ It was a glad thought.

Abruptly he grinned. "So, big bro. What's up?"


	4. No More Running

Naruto waited until Itachi gestured to the sitting area before addressing the question. He was highly alert; in keeping with his promise never to do anything in Itachi's place without his permission, he went so far as to hesitate again, half bent over the new sofa, until he'd received another little nod of permission. He sat, adjusted himself until he was comfortable, then clasped his hands between his knees. Itachi watched him, sitting opposite him and waiting.

He couldn't answer the question, he found. Not just yet. He'd tried to talk himself into it all the way over here. Now that he was here he couldn't get the words out. He focused on something else. "I like that."

"What?"

"The way you call me big bro. No one's ever said that to me." He tried to smile.

Itachi nodded, letting his eyes rove around the living room. Place was huge. His old apartment could fit into half the downstairs alone, it seemed. How Mo had gotten it to feel so homey so quickly he'd never know, but he was grateful. Didn't know what he'd do without that woman. When he felt he'd given Naruto enough time to get his nerves under control, he tried again. "Sasuke okay?"

"Sasuke? Yes." Naruto cracked his knuckles loudly.

_Still nervous._ "Job okay?"

"My j- yes. It's fine."

"Hungry?"

"No."

"Thirsty?"

"No."

"Horny?"

Naruto barked out a laugh, one that seemed to surprise him.

_There we go._

"No. Sasuke and I... I saw him at the job before I came here. Right before he locked up."

Itachi shared the grin. "I'll remember to wipe down any surfaces before I use them tomorrow. You do know there are cameras in there?"

"Sasuke shut them off."

"Unbelievable." Itachi couldn't help laughing.

The sound of tension dying tapered off with a few chuckles. Eventually they met each other's eyes across the coffee table and the smiles dwindled to nothing. Naruto took a deep breath. "You said something to me that night."

"Okay?" Itachi was attentive.

"You said there were things about us. That need to be discussed before we could be family. Remember?"

"Yup."

"Well, you discussed. Yourself. And you've…accepted me as your brother."

Itachi studied the bowed head, the way those blue eyes kept glancing up at him and looking away. Looked at how tightly those large hands were clutched. _He needed to go to Sasuke before coming here. For courage. Support. Whatever he's got to say is big._ "I haven't changed my mind…"

"No, I know. I know. It's just…as grateful as I am, as wonderful as that is…it wasn't the question I asked you before. Not really." Naruto gave a harsh exhalation.

"Oh." Itachi thought carefully. "But…I thought you understood that it goes both ways? Yeah, you're my brother, but I'd never depend of someone I couldn't be there for too." At seeing the look of confusion and hope in Naruto's eyes, Itachi uncrossed his legs to move to the end of his seat. He reached over and managed to grab Naruto's hand. Squeezed it. "Yes. _Yes_. I'm your brother. You can take that to the bank." The relief Naruto showed then had Itachi frowning. He'd remember in the future that things needed to be spelled out for Naruto.

"Good. That's good. Because I…there's something I…I mean, I considered discussing it with Iruka, but…I don't know, I don't think he can help me. I think it's the kind of thing only family can help with. Not Sasuke. I can't…he's not…it's you. It has to be you. I knew it from the first."

Itachi got up and went around the coffee table. He sat near Naruto but didn't look at him now. "Okay."

"Okay. Okay."

That was it. Nothing was said. Itachi didn't push.

"You said I was broken," Naruto whispered nearly thirty minutes later. "As broken as you are. That's why it has to be you. I don't…want to be like this anymore. So different. I need help. I need you to help me."

And there it was. Itachi heard the way Naruto sighed. Saw the way he leaned back against the cushions only to lean forward again. He nodded. "I get that, wanting to be good. Accepted. Wanting to be just like everyone else."

"Yes," Naruto said. "I want to stop being a monster. Tsunade said I could be whole. Iruka says the same thing, that I can recover and become normal and healthy if I want it bad enough. He says he's willing to help me, and he has, but…" Naruto did another of those loud knuckle cracks. "The things I can't talk about? Those are the things that…When you mentioned…him…at your apartment, that night…I don't want things like that to…I just want things like that to stop being a risk."

Itachi rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, dug his fingers into his ponytail, then pulled the elastic holder off. He shook his hair free and gave his scalp a good scratch. As he tossed the holder onto the coffee table, he turned to face Naruto. "You want to talk about Danzo."

" _No_. Never." Naruto needed a moment to breathe normally again. "I just want to stop having… parts of myself that I can't _deal_ with. I want to be like other people. Able to think about the past without…without breaking all over again. I hate that about myself. Being broken. How it fucks up every aspect of my life."

Itachi considered the bold profile as Naruto stared across the room. "But that's not going to change."

"Why not? It _can_ change. _You_ did it. You were broken, but you're fine now." Naruto's brows were drawn together in confusion.

"Yeah, but I was a kid when my shit went down. Kids are soft. Like play dough. You can break them a thousand times, and they'll just come back together again. Most kids, anyway. You were older when your thing happened. Break a person after they've already set, after they've grown up, and it's harder for them to repair themselves. Sometimes impossible. But that's not what I was trying to say. You don't need to be fixed, Naruto. You're already fine."

Naruto slowly turned his head to look at Itachi. He studied the expression on that swarthy face. It was alert. Concerned, maybe. No laughter in the eyes or around the mouth. "I don't understand."

"You said you want to be normal," Itachi explained as he bent his leg on the seat so he was comfortable. "But you are. _This_ ," he said, waving a hand up and down to take in Naruto's bulk, "is normal for you. This is your normal."

"But-"

"And you're not a monster. Don't let me catch you saying that again."

"Itachi, I appreciate your loyalty, but Iruka-"

"Shut it. This isn't loyalty, okay? Iruka…he's not like us. He's not from the same place you and I are from. No, don't say we're all from Konoha. You and me? We're from someplace else. The deep, dark, ugly pit of hell that lives under humanity. Where shit is real and only the strongest survive. That's us. Iruka? He's from up here." Itachi glanced around the living room, waving a hand again, this time to indicate his pretty house. "Up here where people tell themselves that this is good and normal and right. He's The Man, Naruto. Bred to categorize and pigeonhole every fucking thing under the sun. 'Oh, you're not the product of two parents, a big house, and a white picket fence? Then you must be abnormal. Let us fix you.' No, man. That shit…that's not us. We know what's real, you and me. And _I_ say as long as you're good, as long as you can breathe and walk and handle your shit, then you're fine." He paused. "Are you good?" Here, Itachi looked Naruto in the eyes without blinking.

Holding that black gaze, Naruto thought he began to see. "…Yes. I think so."

Itachi gave a single nod. "Good. And that's an accomplishment. Because you weren't just broken back when Danzo had you, man. You were _unmade_. Completely. Picked apart, and the pieces kicked to the four corners of creation. I personally don't know anybody who could come back from that. So I'd say you're a hell of a lot better than good. This is you, and you're _fine_ in my book. Okay?"

Naruto swallowed. "You don't think I'm a monster?"

"Not the way you mean," Itachi answered carefully. "Something unfit to mix with society. That's how you mean it, right? I mean, I was the first to call you crazy not too long ago, but I know better now. Shit happened to you. You put yourself together again as best you could. If the pieces don't fit together as smoothly as someone who's never been hurt a day in their lives, if you're not as controlled as some fuck who's been institutionalized by the educational system or a desk job all their life, if you're not as _normal_ as people who don't even know what the real deal is, so what? It works for _you_. And you're the only one who needs to accept who you are. Anyone who doesn't can go fuck themselves. I ain't the best either, but this is my deal and it works for me. Take it or leave it, you know?"

A deep warmth spread throughout Naruto's chest, one that made it past his throat, up to his face, and to his eyes. There was nothing Naruto could say. So alien was the concept that he was fine, that all he did was blink at Itachi. _I love him._ The thought surprised him. He didn't think he could love anyone but Sasuke.

Itachi scooted closer and lowered his voice. "Your problem isn't that you need to be normal. Least, that's not what I heard when you were laying it out for me. Your problem is that this thing that happened –between you and Danzo- made you its bitch. It's got you by the short and curlies and you want to be your own man again. You want to stop running. Am I right?"

"Yes," Naruto said with relief. "Yes, that's what I meant. That's it exactly."

"Well you know what you need to do, then. Same thing anyone does when it's time to stop running. Same thing I had to do with Akatsuki: turn and face the music."

Naruto waited for more. "What does that mean exactly?"

Itachi stood. "You trust me?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Tell Kakashi you're taking a few days off. Meet me at headquarters tomorrow morning. Early."

"Why?"

"You want me to help you, right? Well, I'm going to try."

"Should I bring Sasuke?"

"Do you need to?"

Naruto considered it, staring up at Itachi's face the whole while. Sasuke would support him. No question about it, but if he thought Sasuke could help him he would have gone to him. Not to Itachi. Itachi was right, they were from someplace different than the majority of the world. And not even Sasuke was like them. "I don't think he can go where we're going." _Back to where we came from. Where I came from._

Itachi nodded in approval. "Neither do I. Kid can handle a lot, but he's not like us."

It suddenly dawned on Naruto what they were talking about, and a tremor of fright swept through him. "This is going to get ugly, isn't it."

"Naruto, my man, in my experience the past is rarely anything _but_ ugly."

* * *

At home, safe in bed where it was dark Sasuke's warm weight was snug beneath his arm, Naruto stared at the ceiling.

Sasuke stirred. "You can't sleep."

"No."

"Where were you tonight? When I left headquarters I expected to find you home."

"Itachi's."

Sasuke propped himself on an elbow, the better to see Naruto's face. "What did you two talk about?"

"He thinks I'm normal." Naruto finally turned his head a bit to look at him. He couldn't see much beyond the wild silhouette of Sasuke's hair. Like a spiky explosion on his head. He moved the hand he had on Sasuke's waist up to his hair, burying it in the stuff. It was so smooth. Like crushed silk. "Do you think I'm normal?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Whatever that means."

"Like everyone else. That's what it means." But that wasn't the way Itachi had explained it.

"I'm probably the last person you should ask, but…I always saw normal as another word for weak. I bet someone somewhere would have a shitload to say about that, but hey. It's my personal opinion."

" _What?_ " Naruto breathed. Sasuke settled himself in his former position, and he turned on his side to stare at him. "Weak? How?"

"Normal people, or what the socially accepted definition of normal is, are people who don't go through shit. Nothing bad happens to them. When something bad does happen, they freak out."

"But how is that weak?"

Sasuke ran his tongue over his teeth, thinking. "It's like this. A guy who isn't normal, say someone…someone who's been attacked or killed before. Someone who's had a few curve balls thrown his way, in other words. Someone like that gets home and finds someone else in the process of killing his family, he's going to react. Fight back. Maybe stop it from happening, if he's lucky. Someone who's normal now, who's always been safe, who's known nothing but kind people, and who's always been happy or content, or some variation thereof…he arrives home to find the same situation going on, he freaks. Either freezes and watches it happen, in which case he ends up murdered with them. Or turns and runs, in which case he'll be cut down and murdered with them just the same." Sasuke slanted his eyes at Naruto. "But then there are the exceptions. The extraordinary ones. The ones who've led more or less normal lives, but when shit happens to them they hit back. The ones who are nobody's victim, ever. People like my brother. Like you. You're not normal, Naruto. Not to me, you aren't. And I fucking love that about you. I knew it the second you barged into that convenience store, that you weren't normal. Been loving you ever since."

Naruto's grin was very white in the dark, as he rolled over Sasuke and buried his face in the man's neck. _I'm okay. My family thinks I'm fine. I_ am _fine, nevermind what they think. I really am._ He could see it now. Armed with Sasuke and Itachi's singular outlooks –viewpoints that were dissimilar and yet very much alike- he could better interpret himself. It was like coming out of a storm you'd lived in for most of your life. He felt weightless, free.

* * *

But when he watched Itachi walk up the deserted street the next morning, some of his anxiety came back. In fact, most of it did. Just then he couldn't seem to recall any of the self-acceptance he'd found the previous night. He was here to dig up his past. A past he'd spent nearly three decades burying, and for good reason. Before Itachi could greet him or say anything he shook his head. "I don't think I can do this."

"No worries."

"I…what?"

Itachi stopped beside him and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Said it's cool. If you can, great, if you can't…we can wait till you can. You heading off to work, then?" He squinted up at Naruto in the new rays of the sun.

_Sasuke doesn't think I'm weak._ "No. We'll do this." He took a deep breath.

"We don't have to. In fact, if you're not sure, we probably shouldn't. This isn't the kind of thing you can do if you're not hard up for it. Conviction, man. You're going to need it. Unless you're dead sure, you'll stay this thing's bitch. So if you're not…"

"I'm scared," Naruto whispered.

"Good. Being scared means you got your ass screwed on straight. Means your eyes are open."

"I don't want to lose control."

"Then don't."

"Or hurt you."

"So _don't_."

"Itachi…"

"If you're not sure, fine. You're scared, cool. But if this is more of you not believing in yourself then I got no patience. None. You got this. I believe in you."

Touched, Naruto nevertheless felt he had to point something out. "I never said I don't bel-"

"Didn't have to. I can read you. That whole hermit thing on the mountain all those years? Dumping Sasuke? Kill first, ask later? Your whole _thing_? It's not you being broken, or Danzo, or any of that. Least mostly it's not. It's insecurity. Thought you knew that, man. Sasuke said you told him your problem ain't what happened to you, it's just you."

He _had_ said that. Insecurity had never occurred to him, though.

"It's a crutch, thinking like that. Sometimes people can't help being insecure. I get that. Not everyone can fix themselves, or face their shit. A lot of people can't, actually, but you…you're different. I know you. So yeah, I got no time for it. Ain't sorry for it, either." Itachi looked at his watch.

This was why he'd come to Itachi. The man always gave it to him straight. Saw him a certain way, treated him accordingly, and expected him to keep it together. "Lead on."

"Well our first stop is right here. Need to speak to Sasuke." Nothing was said about Naruto's decision to continue. Business as usual, that was Itachi.

* * *

Inside, the black interior was made blue by the light from countless computer screens. Sasuke sat at a bank of them, fingers flying over two keyboards. Naruto hung back and watched when Itachi went over to him.

-oOo-

Sasuke listened. "Are you insane?" he hissed when Itachi was done. "You can't do that!"

"Need you to stay with Mo while I'm gone. I'll have my cell, but at a certain point I'm turning it off. Don't want any distractions. The kids-"

"Did you hear me? I'm not letting you do this, he can't take it."

"-should listen to you. You have my permission to take a belt to Ichi's ass if he bucks you, but keep Mo's stress to a minimum. Her pregnancy is high risk as it is. If you tell her you're going to be home at a certain time, get there ten minutes before that time. Make sure-"

"I'm coming with you."

Itachi stopped. "No, you're not. I need you with Mo."

"I can't let him face this alone."

"What am I?"

"Itachi-"

"No, seriously, what am I? I'm his brother. He didn't ask you to do this. He asked me. That big guy over there trusted _me_ , came to me and _asked_ me to help him. You don't think I can?"

Even a week after hearing of the event, he could not get used to this new relationship Itachi seemed to have with Naruto. "It's not that."

"Then what?"

"You don't love him. You won't take care of him."

Itachi rubbed his hands down his face before leaning them on the arms of Sasuke's chair. He got right down into his brother's face, and spoke so that his lips barely moved. "I ought to punch your teeth in for that. Same way I did when you got jealous over Mo. I _don't_ love the guy. You're right. I can't just up and love someone all of a sudden like that. But I trust him, Sasuke. With your life. My life, the lives of my family. I trust him to have my back. He's my _brother_. So are you, but it never occurred to me until this minute that you have no idea what that means. Are you ever going to stop being a shit? Hm? No? Let me break it down, what the word brother means to me, then. It means Duty. Sacrifice. Loyalty. It means I will break myself to keep you safe. It means I will die for you. It means I will kill for you. It means if you come to me at night and say, 'this is the broken part of me; take it and help me fix it,' that I will fucking move heaven and hell to do so. It means I won't quit on you, or let you down, or let you quit on yourself and let yourself down. It _means_ , you selfish fuck, that I feel a hell of a lot more than just love. But you I do love, Sasuke. Think about that. I love you, so am I going to do anything less than my level best to take care of what's yours?"

Sasuke looked away and scrubbed at the tears on his cheeks with one hand. " _Promise_ me. Promise me you'll bring him back in one piece."

By which Itachi was sure Sasuke meant sane. Bring Naruto back sane. "I will. If he can't handle where we're going, I'll bring him back. Promise."

"He's not going to want to fail, but…"

"I know. I got this. I got _him_. Trust me."

Sasuke laughed weakly. "I am trusting you, bro."

Something in Itachi's heart twisted. "Just make sure you take care of Mo and the kids. Trusting you with that."

Now Sasuke met his eyes, and some of the bitterness left his chest. Some. "I know. I got it, man."

When Itachi went back to Naruto, it was to find him alert, but silent. He didn't ask questions. Good. Sasuke came and hugged him, but even then Naruto didn't speak. Just squeezed Sasuke hard a moment and let him go.

* * *

The day was frigid. Itachi looked at Naruto's jacket with new interest. "Thought you said your body adjusts to outside stimuli like temperature?"

"It does." Naruto looked around as they walked, frowning slightly. "But sometimes it comforts me to use conventional means."

"Comforts you how?"

"I don't know. I guess…sometimes I remember what things were like. Before, I mean. Before I was this powerful. A simpler time, another life. I used jackets and things back then. Sometimes it just feels good to wear one."

"Oh." Itachi wondered if he only resorted to that kind of behavior when stressed. Probably.

Naruto stopped walking when the sun was high and the city bustling all around them. "Where are we going?"

"Center of town."

"I can see that, but why?"

"So we can help you out."

"I thought we would go somewhere secluded and talk?"

"Why? Thought we established you didn't want to talk about Danzo. That you couldn't."

"And I thought you said I would have to."

"Said you needed to face the music. Never said anything about talking about it."

"Where are we going?" This time Naruto's voice was lower, and his entire body seemed to solidify where it stood, as if every muscle were compressing in preparation for some trauma.

Itachi tipped his head sideways. "In there."

All Naruto saw was the cluster of buildings known as the Council Complex. Since disbanding the council, the buildings were used for his meetings with ambassadors or delegations from other countries. One of the buildings, the main one, had been converted into luxurious suites for those same dignitaries to stay in while visiting Konoha. He didn't see what they could possibly want in the Complex. Curious, he followed when Itachi began heading that way.

-oOo-

There were a few workers about the lobby in the main building, sweeping or dusting. They bowed low over brooms and dust cloths when they saw the Hokage, and didn't rise until he'd acknowledged their respect with a nod of his own. Much of the building had been renovated when the suites had been built, but there was a section at the core that was from the original building plans. It was located behind a door that had a keypad lock on it. Itachi stopped here and turned to him. "You remember the night I came to your crib, found you hitting on Sasuke?"

Naruto wasn't likely to forget. The entire night had been a turning point in his life. "Yes." What did that have to do with today?

Itachi nodded, gazing up at him thoughtfully. "Well, Tsunade escorted me off the premises, as you know. Took me to her office. Told me a bunch of…stuff. About you. About my clan, mostly, but there was some stuff about you. You recognize this door?"

Naruto looked it over carefully, but it was featureless. A plain industrial beige, with a lacquered sheen to it that suggested some material other than steel, which all government doors were made of these days. "No?"

Another nod. "Figured you might not. From what I've read, she was right about that day. Someone came and got you. Man named Kotetsu? There were others in that little entourage, Danzo included, but Kotetsu was point on this particular mission. He was the one who spoke to you, being Danzo's mouthpiece so I gathered. Really it was to keep your attention focused on him, and not Danzo or the other people with him. They took you to a food joint, bought you some grub, and slipped something into your drink. By the time you were brought here you were docile as a lamb being led to slaughter, senses all dulled."

A stern frown of concentration clouded Naruto's features. He was struggling to find a connection between this seemingly random report on his past, and their reason for being here. Where had Itachi come by that information? He didn't remember anything that was mentioned, or a man named Kotetsu. Not even this supposed mission of buying him food. Wasn't he here to dig up his-

A tiny spark of something, some small link, clicked into place for him as his eyes flew to the door again. Itachi said he'd been brought here. With Danzo. _No._

Itachi turned back to the door and punched in a ten-digit sequence. The hum and buzz of the lock being disengaged had another link of recognition joining the first. Nothing so concrete as a memory, but a steadily forming chain of recollection nonetheless. Something was being systematically rebuilt in him. Some event that Itachi knew about and wanted him to remember.

The door slid sideways, into the wall. The space beyond the door was short, dark, and musty.

Itachi stepped over the threshold. Lights came on to show that it was an elevator. He was now facing Naruto again, waiting. There was nothing but calm on his face. No clue as to what might be waiting. Nothing to indicate that Naruto should be worried, or that he himself was worried in any way.

_I feel like I should remember this. That I should know what's coming. I almost think I do, but the memory's not there._ Naruto studied the elevator around Itachi. The walls were glass. Beveled so that the interior seemed fluted, and shining brightly with light. The floor was steel, he saw. If there were some way to direct the elevator, buttons or another keypad, he couldn't see it. He had no memory of the elevator per se, but another link joined the others. It was the oddest thing to suspect you'd seen or done something before, yet have no record of it in your mind. Only a feeling. A sense of deep foreboding. And still he refused to believe that this could be what he thought it was. Partly because Itachi assured him they wouldn't be going that route, but mostly because he just…couldn't… _remember_ ever being here.

He went in.

The elevator settled noticeably with his weight, giving testimony to old technology. Itachi waited until he'd turned –ah, there was the console to direct the elevator- before pressing a button that closed the doors. A plain, clear button. That was all there was to the console, that one button. No numbers or anything else but a small irregular hole beneath the button. Itachi reached inside his coat and withdrew a large key that he placed in the hole. He turned it once clockwise, then twice counter-clockwise. A series of clicks followed each turn. Naruto, at seeing the key and how it was used, felt a shiver run down his spine; another link.

-oOo-

Motion was nearly undetectable. The faintest hum could be heard. Barely audible, even to Naruto's keen hearing. And it must be said that he had all his senses thrown wide. He was able to identify that they were moving downward. A long way down. Seconds stretched to a full minute. Two. Three. And still they descended.

_We're not moving fast or slowly,_ Naruto thought, breaking into a sweat. _But fast enough so that we have to be several hundred feet underground by now._ And suddenly he didn't want the elevator to stop. The links were almost enough now to form a complete memory. A memory he didn't want to experience. Half of him suspected what it could be, but the other half was in flat denial. This wasn't happening-

_-It already happened-_

-he would reach over Itachi's shoulder and press that button himself. Stop the elevator. Break through the ceiling and climb the shaft with his bare hands, if need be, but he would not wait around to find out what was at the end of this descent. He looked up at the ceiling, squinting his eyes at the light that shone brightly through no light fixture that he could see.

The elevator came to a halt with a faint cessation of movement.

Itachi was looking at him, he saw. That same calm all over his face, but something different in his eyes. Sympathy, maybe? "Itachi, I-"

"What."

"I don't want that door to open."

Itachi put his hands into his pockets, thereby masking their tremor. All through the ride, he'd heard Naruto's breathing first deepen, then escalate until it sounded like a runaway train. The man's eyes were perfectly round as blue marbles, and he looked ready to bulldoze right over the first obstacle to be put in his way. _Scared shitless he is, and here I am in an enclosed space with him, sweet Christ. Brilliant, Itachi. Just brilliant._ No. He could do this. And as bad as shit was about to get, he trusted Naruto's promise not to ever hurt him. Was trying to trust him. "You remember anything?"

"No. But…I _feel_ something."

"Okay. I won't open the door, but we're not going back up either. Okay? You trusted me to help you, and this is the only way I know how. Iruka, as great and educated on the human psyche as I'm sure he is, is only putting Band-Aids on your issues. Teaching you how to cope instead of getting to the root of the matter. Now, I'm no shrink? And I'm sure every shrink alive, Iruka included, would shit bricks at what I'm doing right now, but I really truly believe that this is the way to help you. I think you're strong enough to handle it. I think that, having been unmade and broken to the extent that you've been, nothing under the sun can unmake you again. Hurt, yes. But I think I'm right in saying that pain won't break you again. Am I?"

He was panting. Sweating rivers. "…Yes."

"You sure?" Itachi said, tilting his head to the side. "Or do you just want me to be right." _I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Maybe we should go back._

Naruto took himself in hand and sucked in a deep, steadying breath. He took another. Forced his muscles to unknot. Closed his eyes and gave his body one long, vigorous shake. "No, you're right. I don't like hurting, but you're right. Whatever we're doing here won't be anywhere near as bad as what actually happened to me."

"Good. So you tell me when you're ready for this door to open and I'll open it."

Another one of those curious up-swells of emotion swamped Naruto just then. It hit him again that he loved Itachi, but this time it was stronger. Deeper. Reaching, unbelievably, to someplace in him that Sasuke would never be able to touch. Some part of him that was perhaps inaccessible to lovers. A place reserved for family, for blood. A place in him that had never really been accessed. It was so…concrete. Irrefutable. Both the place in him and what he felt for Itachi. An exceedingly strange thing to experience, yet also welcome. Especially since Itachi wasn't blood to him. _But that's how it feels. Something more than just family._ He grasped it with all of himself, wrapped himself around it, and used it to steady himself. He gazed at Itachi's profile, where the shorter man was thoughtfully studying his boots, and let Itachi's quiet confidence settle the fright surging through him. _Iruka_ would _scream if he knew what I was doing right now,_ he thought _. I don't even know what we're doing exactly, but I'll bet my chakra it's one of those things he calls a trigger. I've been going to him for over three years now and I still can't think about my past. Maybe Itachi has the right of it._

When he was completely in control of himself, when his breathing was even, and his heartbeat slow and modulated, Naruto straightened his spine. "I'm ready."

The key was still hanging in the lock. As soon as Itachi put his hand on it, Naruto's heart lurched hard. His body tried to escape his control. Skin tingling, breathing shot all over again, hands clenched tightly- but he maintained. His entire body was braced as if for a blow, but he maintained.

* * *

This time the key was turned counter-clockwise three full turns. The door slid open.

Directly ahead of Naruto an entry room came into view, one that was dominated by a tall silver archway.

The memory burst full force over Naruto's mind, hitting him with such intensity that he staggered back against the wall of the elevator.

-oOo-

_The elevator opened and Kotetsu, who was in front of him, turned to say something to him. He didn't hear; he'd been feeling fuzzy since the restaurant. All he really noticed was the huge silver archway. The moment he stepped out of the elevator, something long and sharp rammed into his back, nearly lifting him off his feet._

_Danzo. His face hovering over Naruto, speaking. Unintelligible words. Meaningless sounds around him. He was restrained. His chakra blasting out of him, his mind beginning to clear at last, then Danzo's hand swooping down toward his face, glowing with chakra of his own._

_Pain. His mother. Danzo. Pain. Danzo...Danzo…Danzo…_

-oOo-

The vision cleared to reveal Itachi's face, not Danzo's, hovering inches from his own. Someone was howling. Mad, bloodcurdling screams. The elevator shook wildly, and the light had switched from white to yellow. In fact, there was darkness around the yellow light. Itachi's face was twisted in an expression of fear and worry, and Naruto realized he was shouting. And then he heard himself. Realized the howling was his own voice. He managed to close his mouth with difficulty, clenching his jaw shut hard enough to make his head ache.

He looked down at himself. The light was coming from him. His chakra was fully unmasked, but not engaged. A flick of his eyes showed all the glass walls in the elevator shattered, showing the metal skeleton of the structure itself. Another sweep of his eyes: Itachi was bleeding from a gash on his face. His hands were gripping Naruto's cheeks, holding his head still. Naruto saw that he was reclining on the floor, his legs kicking, Itachi sitting on his stomach. He stopped kicking, and the elevator became still. Silent and still.

"Naruto." Even now, Itachi's voice was steady. "You with me, man?"

He couldn't speak. He'd just caught sight of the archway again beyond Itachi's shoulder; it glinted in the light of his chakra. Naruto closed his eyes. Better.

Glass continued to fall from the elevator frame. It made faint tinkling sounds as Itachi gingerly climbed off of him. Naruto kept himself perfectly still, not wanting to risk any more memories being surprised to the surface of his mind. For the moment he had hold of himself. Shaky, precarious hold. "Why?" he rasped. "Why would you bring me here?"

"You know why."

He supposed he did. You couldn't fight what you couldn't face. If he wanted closure he would have to turn and face his past.

_But I can't do this. Not in a million years._

He opened his eyes to tell Itachi this, but the words wouldn't come. The archway was still right there, across from him. It took up his focus, made him temporarily forget what he was going to say.

The archway was dark, but he knew that there was a long hall beyond it. At the end of the hall was a large, domed room full of…things. He stared at the archway for a long time.

-oOo-

Itachi shifted on the shards of glass, pulling a piece out of his arm. He hissed, but kept his attention on where the real danger was. "Naruto?"

The eyes blinked and shifted to him. They were sharp and aware.

"This is probably a dumb question, but…you good?"

Now the eyes moved over him, cataloging his cuts and scrapes. Something in that glance made Itachi go very still. They were not the eyes of wild fright when the elevator had opened. Nor were they the eyes of the man who ran the village. They certainly weren't the eyes of the man who loved his brother, or of the one who'd held him and promised to keep him safe. These were the eyes of something dangerous. Something ruthless, and powerful…and currently on the offensive.

He jumped when Naruto's hand settled on his knee. Before he could voice a second question, foreign chakra washed over him, warm and tingling. There was a sudden itch on his skin and he looked down to find what lacerations he could see closing before his very eyes. Others beneath his clothes were doing the same. He could even feel shards of glass being forced from his skin. When the hand was removed, he was left feeling energized. As if he'd downed half a dozen Red Bulls. More than energized, he felt ready to lift a house.

Naruto stood and he was right behind him, ready for action.

* * *

Whatever light fixtures had been in the entry room were also blown, Naruto saw. He kept his chakra unmasked, not only to see by but because he felt better with it readily accessible. He stopped a couple of feet from the archway, hearing Itachi crunch over glass behind him.

He didn't want to go in there. This. This archway right here represented a very real hole in his mind. A hole so deep that the very existence of it terrified him. A hole he took care never to fall into. The hole it had taken him years to climb out of. Danzo had put him in that hole just as he had dragged him through this archway.

His chakra surged on spike of fear.

But beneath the fear was anger. More than that, there was rage. His panic fizzled out completely, but he still didn't move.

_I can go back. Live as I have been. With Sasuke's love, and the new brother I have. I can spend my years learning them, loving them. Or I can go through that archway and take back what was stolen from me._

Chin lowered, he moved forward.

-oOo-

His chakra lit the way. Each step brought a flash of memory, another link in the growing chain of recall. He'd screamed as he was dragged down this hall, out of his mind with anger and pain at whatever Danzo had done to him. His restraints had held, though, and whatever he'd eaten or drank had still been working in him. It made focusing his chakra extremely difficult. He'd bucked and twisted hard enough to stagger the men carrying him, but Danzo had marched on ahead, unconcerned, until the end of the hall.

Naruto stopped. There was no door at the end of the hall, just another archway. The lights had come on automatically when he'd been brought here all those years ago, but the room he knew was beyond him remained dark now. Only the first few feet of floor ahead of him illuminated by his chakra.

His mother had been in there. Naruto took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold.

* * *

Itachi hesitated. He had his eyes on, prepared for God knew what. Going down the hallway had tightened his balls into what felt like two cherry pits; Naruto's chakra had slowly condensed with each step he took, until the very air felt like inhaling syrup. He could hardly breathe. It felt like gravity had doubled too, weighing him down so that even walking was difficult. Fuck, he could barely stand up straight. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he'd watched as the hall's metal walls warped and rippled when Naruto passed them. He'd considered going back to the elevator then, but no. He'd promised to stick by him.

He went in after Naruto.

* * *

The room was there, a steel and Plexiglas dome that sat in the center of the underground facility, but there was more. An outer room than ran around the entire upper third of the dome. Chairs, computers, equipment he had no name for…all this and more was scattered as if a cyclone had swept through. He didn't remember this outer room, but he had a vague recollection of men and women peering down at him from here. Watching, recording, or monitoring what was being done to him.

Rust colored stains were visible wherever his chakra touched. And bodies. Dessicated, skeletal bodies. People cut down in flight from the storm of violence that had taken place here. He didn't remember much of his rescue. Just his never-ending pain and confusion suddenly giving way to a pair of golden eyes hovering over him. A sense of freedom, of blood thirst so sharp; it had been a sweetness, a drug that numbed and swallowed his pain. He recalled going after people, anyone he laid eyes on. That golden-eyed woman yelling. He'd leapt right through the dome to the people he could see beyond- Here his memory clouded over, replaced with the blankness that covered most of his past.

The dome.

He didn't look at it, though a part of it was visible from where he stood. There were a few moments where his breathing quickened, and his chakra began spiraling out of control, snapping off of him in little curls of raw energy. He didn't want to look. Didn't want to go in there. This was enough, the best he could do. It _had_ to be enough.

A low throb began somewhere at the base of his skull as memories clawed their way to the forefront of his mind…and it was with some shock that he realized he was accessing the demon's power directly.

-oOo-

_A woman, frail and beautiful, held strapped to some thing in the dome. Himself being strapped to an upright slab of metal in front of her. Her smile, her weak, bloody smile. The way her eyes brightened at seeing him, yet sharpened with anger and regret. Her curses, issued at Danzo in her feeble voice. Danzo saying he'd honored her last hours on earth by bringing her son._

_Her son._

_He was her son._

_He'd been lied to. Danzo only smiled at his screaming accusations, but it was all so unimportant at that point. His mother. He could see himself in her face, feel a recognition in her chakra, how like his own it was._

_She was hurt. Had been hurt, repeatedly, for an extended period of time, he saw._

_And Danzo. Overriding his shouts of a promised revenge to tell him how he'd had his mother since his birth. Sixteen long years. The things he'd done to her to keep her incapacitated, to keep her from going to her son, from killing them all. Danzo had caressed his mother's cheek then, causing her to weakly toss her head. There was no doubt left in Naruto's mind that his mother's torture had encompassed rape. Danzo confirmed this. "There were other children. Sons, daughters, that I gave her," he whispered at Naruto, his hand still on his mother's cheek. "I'd let her birth them, nurture them, suckle them for months…then kill them before her very eyes."_

_He'd gone berserk, breaking free of his restraints, his mind clearing suddenly and savagely of the lingering effects of what he'd been drugged with. He'd killed one, two, five of the men trying to redo his restraints._

_Danzo standing over his mother, giving the signal for 'extraction' to begin. More people suddenly surrounding him, cutting his clothes off of him. Driving a black rod through his belly that fit neatly into a one of several holes on the slab he was strapped to, effectively impaling him._

_His chakra had been suddenly inaccessible._

_The word 'transference' being mentioned and the sick, wrenching fear. The pain of that rod in him as he watched his mother-_

* * *

Itachi stood slumped against the wall beside Naruto, his face turned into the wall itself as he called on every ounce of strength he possessed to draw air into his lungs. It was a trickle, an agonizing wheeze, as Naruto's chakra continued to gush out of him. The entire space was lit now, some great dome that was shattered, warped, and broken in several places clearly visible. The weight of Naruto's chakra seemed to have tripled, making Itachi's legs quiver with the strain of standing upright.

He was going to pass out. He knew it. Be left defenseless to whatever mindfuck Naruto was going through. Whatever buzz he'd felt when the guy had healed him was long gone…but at remembering it, Itachi flung out a desperate hand and groped for Naruto's arm. Maybe it would work again. His hand landed with a smack on one rock-hard shoulder, just as his lungs gave up the struggle and his knees buckled completely. He was going down, his fist clutched around a handful of Naruto's jacket. A flash of searing agony flared in his hand, clean up to his shoulder…

* * *

Naruto blinked, and it seemed he could breathe at last. The hand Itachi had on him effectively yanked him back to the present, severing the thread of memories. He shuddered, breathing deeply, able now to release the demon. He reached one hand across his chest to place over Itachi's hand while his heart rate returned to normal. Well, maybe not normal, but it was no longer drumming so hard in his chest. A final, deep breath and he was able to shake off his chakra completely. He looked at Itachi. "Thank you."

"F-fuh- _fuck_." A violent spate of coughing doubled him over.

Frowning, Naruto looked him over more carefully. Itachi seemed somewhat the worse for wear, but he was straightening up again and passing a trembling hand over his damp ponytail. "Are you all right?"

In answer, Itachi looked at the hand he had on Naruto and bellowed loud enough to have Naruto unmasking his chakra again.

The hand was raw. All the skin burned away, the blood neatly cauterized, and the hand itself likely numbed now. The white gleam of bone shone through in a few places, and the damage could be seen to extend past the cuff of Itachi's coat. While Itachi stumbled backward, cursing a solid blue streak, Naruto calmly reached for the hand and allowed his chakra to come forth only from his own hands. Itachi's yelling slowly tapered to disbelieving mutters.

-oOo-

Some time later, when Itachi had been silent for several minutes and the healing was nearly done, Naruto spoke. "I'm glad you're with me." They were kneeling, facing each other. His voice was a whisper.

Itachi's voice was just as low. "Haven't done anything." His hand throbbed and buzzed with Naruto's chakra, but it wasn't unpleasant.

"You're my tether. My rock. I don't think I could do this on my own. I wouldn't even _be_ here if I were on my own."

His hand was whole. Itachi flexed it, rubbed his fingertips together. He pushed his sleeve up to inspect the rest of his arm and found nothing but unbroken skin. Weird, how his coat didn't have a mark on it, but his flesh had been cooked away at contact with Naruto's chakra. "Thanks."

"What do I do now?"

"Like how?" He pushed his sleeve down.

"Well, I'm down here. What am I supposed to do?"

Itachi considered it. "I know it's been bad for you, just being here, but…over in that dome was where the shit happened, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Then I think you need to go in there."

Naruto was now shaking his head from side to side, his mouth tightening to a grim line. "No."

"Here me out, man. You listening?" Itachi waited until the blue eyes met his. "What's the point of coming down here if you don't go in there? That's the worst of it, the stuff you can't think about. Look that shit in the eye and tell it to fuck off. Show it doesn't own you anymore."

"Is that what you did with Akatsuki? When you let yourself be caught? Was it…hard for you? Because I don't think I can do this, put myself in there again."

Leaning his fists on the floor, Itachi bowed his head. "Hard for me? Hard, he says. Bro…I don't know how I did it. Ran from them for 17 years. They were the big bad wolf of my life. I think the only way I got through it was because Sasuke's life was on the line. And I knew that no matter what, he was safe. I'd put him in your hands. Even so, when they showed up…" He swallowed and closed his eyes. "Yeah, it was hard. The hardest. But it was the only chance we had." He looked up at Naruto. "And this is _your_ shot. You can either go back to sessions with Iruka, where you talk about everything _but_ this, or you can go into that dome and handle your business. Your call, man."

And so Naruto found himself on his feet, at the edge of the dome.

"Want me to come with?" Itachi asked from somewhere behind him.

"I do. But I think it's better if you stay here."

So did Itachi, but that made him feel like shit. "Look, I won't punk out on you. If you need me down there, say the word."

"I need you safe." He turned to look at where Itachi knelt.

The world had darkened, first with the dimming of Naruto's chakra, and now the absence of it. The glow swelled into place again as Naruto held his eyes a moment, taking strength from the faith he saw in their black depths. He clenched his jaw and turned resolutely toward a broken section of the dome.

Itachi watched him jump inside and heard his landing several dozen feet below. After a minute he crawled to the edge of the dome and peered downward.

* * *

There were bodies here too, Naruto saw. Dry, emaciated corpses that were little better than skeletons. Jounin uniforms dusty with time, the rusty stains everywhere. Scattered amongst the equipment Danzo had used on him. Between the various apparatuses he'd been strapped to. When he could stand to do so, he left off looking at the bodies to study the numerous pieces of equipment.

Moving slowly, swallowing repeatedly and gritting his teeth as hard as he could, Naruto marked each object. He recalled now each moment with each one, and the memories were horrendous. He came to a heavy wooden table, the only wooden piece in the dome, and stared at it.

A multitude of holes dotted the surface of the wood, itself stained black with his blood. He remembered being held down while huge screws had been mechanically drilled into him, through his bones, and into the wooden table. Even now, so many years later, he could hear the crunch of his bones, the whine of that drill, and the way he'd screamed until his vocal cords had ruptured.

When he could think of it and remember without shivering, he turned away and moved to the next piece. And the next. And the next. Sometimes his chakra escaped him, but he was ever mindful of Itachi watching from above and reined it back in. Sometimes he touched an object, only to feel as though his skin was crawling. His eyes passed over the dead with no real memory of killing them, if indeed he had. Some wore the white lab coats of Danzo's medics. He supposed Tsunade and her rescue team had killed those. He had an idea that they hadn't attempted to release him until all those responsible for hurting him were dead. But the rest…those were definitely Jounin and ANBU, the latter with masks mostly intact. He had to have killed those.

Something caught his eye, on the floor near the wall. It glinted in the light of his chakra and he went to it, curious. It was long, and thin, yet vibrant still. He bent, plucked it up with two fingers, and held it aloft before his eyes.

A hair. A single red hair, long and silken.

A lump formed in his throat that he was powerless to swallow. He wound the hair gently round his index finger, round and round, careful not to snap the fine thread. When he was done, he brought it to his lips. He had nothing of his mother, only her picture. This, he would cherish. It was as if she'd left it for him. Blessed him with it. He felt more grounded, with this part of her in his grasp, and felt at last that he could look at the far side of the dome, a place he'd been simultaneously avoiding and slowly working his way towards.

* * *

Itachi looked where Naruto was staring and again considered getting the hell out of there. It was that thing. The thing he'd read about in the restricted files. The same thing he'd mentioned to Naruto a week ago and had his place demolished because of it.

* * *

It was a room. A compartment built into the dome that was much larger outside than it was on the inside, Naruto remembered. A sleek, silver oval shape tapered on both ends. Like a huge pill. Danzo had called this room The Pod.

This was where his courage failed him. He could feel time rolling by as he stood rooted in place. An hour. Longer. Hearing his screams echo back to him over the distance of time. His pleas not to be put in there. His begging. He looked and looked until he finally closed his eyes and _made_ himself move. Running his thumb over and over the feel of his mother's hair, he began walking toward The Pod.

* * *

Itachi had to squint at how bright the chakra got. Each slow, careful step made it brighter, until he could feel the sub-audio hum of it vibrating through his bones. The pressure was back, worse than before. He hunkered down behind the lower rim, where the outer room met the top part of the dome. Sweat ran down his body freely, but he kept watching as Naruto drew nearer to that room.

* * *

There was no handle, Naruto saw. And now that he was thinking about it, he seemed to recall Danzo putting his hand on a palm screen. He searched with just his eyes, and yes there was a small rectangular compartment that slid upward. He opened it and there was the screen. It bleeped to life when he opened the compartment.

Nothing happened when he put his hand on it, and there was a moment of relief so strong he nearly wet himself. However, he was determined. He turned to look up at where Itachi waited.

Itachi understood the silent question, but going down there was impossible. "Turn down the vibes a notch," he yelled across the distance. "I'm like to be fried if I get near you."

It took a few moments, during which he could see Naruto struggling, but the chakra dimmed to a fine outline of Naruto's body. Itachi leapt into the dome.

"Reprogram it," Naruto rasped.

Itachi licked his lips. He'd watched with bated breath when Naruto had stared at this thing for so long. He hadn't thought Naruto would do more than that, had actually felt that just looking at The Pod signaled the end of this little enterprise. Naruto had faced the worst and they could go home. So when Naruto had actually begun walking to the thing he'd felt almost sick with apprehension. "Dude," he said now. "I don't think the whole facing your past thing needs to be taken this far-"

Naruto slowly turned his head to look at him. "Re. Program. The door. Now, before I lose my nerve."

Itachi studied him. Naruto's body was rigid: back ramrod straight, muscles tense, fists clenched near his midsection. He was quivering with whatever internal battle he was fighting. "Fine. All right," Itachi sighed. He supposed he could understand wanting to actually see inside. Made sense. If you were going to do something, might as well do it right. "Gimme a sec."

The panel holding the screen lifted to reveal a small keypad beneath. He had to use a piece of twisted metal he found on the floor to pry that open, but once he did it was nothing to expose the wires beneath and jerk them free. Resetting the palm screen took hardly more trouble. He asked Naruto to put his hand on the screen when the time came, and punched in the new code.

The door _whooshed_ opened. It was invisible when closed, but now that it was open, they could both see a small room, hardly bigger than the chair inside it. Soft white light spilled from the room.

Naruto took an involuntary step back, as if gut-punched. "There should be some way to turn it on once I'm inside," he said quietly when he could speak. A tear, one tear, rolled down his cheek.

"What-!" He couldn't be serious. _This_ he hadn't planned on. Not at all. "You're not going in there. I promised Sasuke I would-"

"Do it. Turn it to the highest setting-"

"Naruto… _please_ , man-" He reached for Naruto's arm, but drew back short of touching him. "Don't do this."

"-Then get away. As far away as you can. I don't…I don't know what I'll do."

"But…I mean…" Itachi ran a nervous hand over his hair. "I can't. I can't let you do this." When he got no feedback, not even a glance, he hung his head, squeezing his eyes shut against the moisture. "God. Are you _sure?_ "

In answer, Naruto ducked beneath the doorway and went inside.

Trembling nearly as badly as Naruto, Itachi waited until he'd sat. Motion sensors triggered by Naruto's weight on the chair closed the door. He was surprised to find that the moisture had swelled to actual tears; he knew what this was costing Naruto and was torn between sick commiseration and fierce pride.

Still, he hesitated. Naruto had been breathing so hard, shaking so bad… And Sasuke had told him to bring him back in one piece. Iruka, when he got wind of this, would probably try to tear his head off with his bare hands, and if things went really bad, well then he'd be history. Blown from the face of the earth by Naruto's out-of-control response to reliving the single most harrowing part of Danzo's torture. _But he walked in there himself. On his own. Seemed ready to face it come hell or high water, so…_ To the side of the palm screen, beneath another panel, lay a series of controls. Itachi put his shaking hand on the last one and turned it to the highest setting.

* * *

Now that he was in a contained area, Naruto could hear the high, whistling quality of his breathing. He forced himself to take deep breaths. Slower breaths. His hands were fisted on the seat beneath him; he forced them open and placed them on his knees. As an afterthought, he closed his eyes.

_It's okay. I'm okay. He's going to turn it on, but I'm not 15 and weak anymore. This isn't going to go down the way it always did back then. I just need him to turn it on so I can_ face _it._

When he opened his eyes, it was to see the many narrow slits lining the smooth interior of The Pod. Some were long, some were short. Vertical, slanted, horizontal. Out of each of those slits some kind of blade would come, attached to a thin arm that allowed the blade to slash and hack with a speed that couldn't be followed with the naked eye. Straight blades, curved blades, half-moon blades. A few of those slits let out thin, whirring buzzsaws or long stilettos. All these blades would come out at once, with a noise that was deafening, and converge on the chair.

He could remember. Now. A small part of him thought that must be progress. He was actually in The Pod, sitting on the chair, and his thoughts were still his own. He could look back and remember the absolute, all-encompassing terror with which he used to view this room. How he had to be dragged, with large hooks through the meat of his arms and legs, into The Pod. Shoved kicking and screaming into the chair. Locked into the chair. And then he would wait, screaming still, as he was waiting now. He would hear, as he heard now, the hum that meant The Pod was activated. The lights would turn off. And then those hundreds of blades would come at him.

He could not verbalize the horror. The darkness. How the blades would slice through his skin, muscle, and even bone sometimes. His eyes would be cut from his head; fingers hanging by thin strips of skin; arteries severed. A few times he'd been nearly decapitated. The pain of it was unimaginable. Something on another plane of existence entirely. He would be slashed and hacked, chopped and lacerated, diced and shredded. Back then he couldn't call forth the demon at will. The only way it ever came was when he'd been near death. Only after months would his fear alone be able to summon his chakra, but then Danzo knew how to control the demon. He had long years of practice torturing a Vessel; nothing Naruto did stopped him from putting him in The Pod sometimes as much as a dozen times a day.

The light slowly dimmed. There was a click, and then the hum intensified.

Naruto's entire body broke out into a freezing sweat of helpless panic, but he was in control of himself still. His fingers were white where they squeezed his mother's hair.

And then it happened, the hellish shrieking whine of those blades coming at him. They flashed in the light of his chakra, and Naruto finally lost it.

* * *

Back up on the outer wall, Itachi watched. He'd jumped away as soon as he'd turned the thing on, but hadn't been able to make himself go far. Not like there was anyplace for him to go anyway. He crouched, waiting for God knew what- but nothing happened. Then sound erupted from The Pod, some kind of metallic wail. He barely had time to hear a hollow booming sound and see The Pod distort and collapse in on itself before he ducked down and pressed himself to the floor. A second later it felt like the entire earth shook and heaved. He covered his head with his arms as cracks in the ceiling appeared and bits of rock and plaster rained down on his head. There was a second titanic boom, and this time he saw what was left of the chair embed itself in the wall not ten feet from where he lay quivering and screaming. It went right through the metal sheeting covering the wall to lodge in the rock behind it. A rush of scorching heat and wind swept the entire interior of the dome, making him wince, and then a final explosion had something crashing into him from somewhere. Everything went black.

* * *

When Naruto came to his senses he was standing at the center of utter ruin. His mind was blank. He was unhurt, not so much as a scratch on him, and his chakra was nowhere in evidence. At length he blinked. Recalled where he was. Turned around. The remains of The Pod, which was nothing, really. Looking at it, the past few minutes came back to him.

The blades had come, but unlike every other time he'd sat in that chair, and unlike every memory of The Pod he tried not to have, they stopped short of touching him, as if encountering a solid wall; his chakra had blown out of him, halting them in their tracks. He'd quivered there on a moment of visceral relief, of wild triumph, and then he'd been blinded by a need to take charge at long last. He wasn't sure, but he thought maybe he'd blasted his way out of The Pod. The structure was certainly no more. A few knives and a buzzsaw lay not far from where it had been, but that was it. He remembered staggering out of the wreckage, his chakra fountaining again as he lashed out with it, seeing the instruments of his subjugation. For a short time it felt good. Destroying the things used to destroy him. He knew nothing but the joy of destruction, and then it was over.

There was nothing left, he saw. Everything was one misshapen hunk of metal or another.

He felt…cleansed, somewhat, yes. Was it over? He didn't know. He could think of this room now, and the things done, and it did hurt less, but… He looked down at the hair around his finger.

* * *

Itachi came to with a groan. Before he moved, he conducted an assessment of himself. Seemed he was intact. Something was lying across his back, but he thought all his parts were in working order. He moved cautiously, inching along until he could turn over and push the plank of wood off of himself. Looked like a table dotted with holes. One of the things Naruto had looked at-

Naruto.

He got painfully to his feet and looked around. His eyes were adjusted to the dark, but he couldn't see much. A few careful, shuffling steps brought him to the edge of the wall where he could look down into the dome. Nothing but shadows. "Naruto?"

There was a sound. Faint, but steady. Once he'd jumped down among the new wreckage he followed it. Naruto slowly took shape in the dark. Solidifying out of the shadows as a crouched mass. He stopped right behind him, listening to the crying, and swallowing a lump in his throat.

As long as he lived, he would never forget the way this man had brought him to tears with a few words, and then held him while he cried. It was a moment that would define the rest of his life, much as the moment his mother had told him to run had defined his life before. The first moment, he knew, something had been taken from him. With the second moment it had been given back, and he would not have thought that possible. To see Naruto like this was too much, after everything.

"Hey." He pitched his voice low, stepped closer. "It's okay, man-"

Naruto flinched away from the hand Itachi reached out to him. "Don't… _don't_."

Itachi let his hand fall away. "What can I do? Just tell me what to do." He considered trying to hug Naruto.

"Leave me."

"No."

" _Leave!_ "

The roar was loud; Itachi took a wary step back, but he held his ground. "I'm not going anywhere. Just tell me what you need, man. I'm your brother, remember?"

Naruto's face only crumpled as his body shook with renewed grief. He cried as if the world was ending, and for all Itachi knew, maybe it was. He didn't know. Could not imagine what the past few hours might have done to Naruto because as much as he told himself he understood, and had gone through similar shit, the fact was he _didn't_ know.

_Should never have done this. The fuck was I thinking, what the_ fuck _do I know about_ anything _?_ But Naruto needed him to keep it together and do something. Anything. Guy was in pieces right now.

He did the only thing he could think of at that point, and that was to pull out his phone. It was off, which had probably saved it when Naruto first went apeshit in the elevator, but he turned it on now. "A miracle I even have bars down here." Only two, but it was enough. Had to be enough.

* * *

Sasuke answered on the first ring. "Where the fuck have you been. I've been trying to call-"

"Listen up." Itachi's voice was tight.

Immediately alert, Sasuke shut his mouth. He listened to the short, whispered summary of events and wanted to kill someone. Itachi, preferably. "Put him on the phone. And Itachi?"

"Yeah, man."

"You and I are going to have a long conversation the next time I see your motherfucking face."

* * *

Itachi pressed speaker and held the phone in the general direction of Naruto's head. "Talk."

"Naruto?"

That big blond head swung toward Sasuke's voice. Itachi winced when the phone was clawed away from him, and shook his hand while Naruto hunched around the device. "Sasuke?"

"Babe, are you-"

" _Sasuke_." Naruto lowered his head to the phone and rocked forward until he was nearly prostrate. "Oh, Sasuke."

Itachi went to the far side of the dome, where he wouldn't be able to overhear.

-oOo-

For a long time he just listened as Sasuke spoke. Nothing important. Nothing he had to tax his brain interpreting. Nothing he needed to respond to. Just his voice. Words of love and support. Encouragement. Soothing nonsense. A throaty giggle here and there. Shared silences interspersed throughout it all that healed as much as the words did. Naruto -listening for well over an hour- held the phone to his face, eyes closed, and felt some semblance of peace settle the raging upheaval in him this day had caused.

Sasuke always knew him so well, understood him so deeply; he knew when Naruto was ready to speak. "When are you coming home?" he asked quietly after one of those silences.

"Soon." He was surprised to find that his voice was steady now, if just as quiet. "Tonight."

"I'll be waiting."

"I know."

"I'm going to kill my brother, though. Don't try to stop me."

Naruto gasped through a short laugh, but the humor was well placed. _Sasuke always knows what I need._ "Don't." He looked in the direction Itachi had gone. "I couldn't have done this without him. I mean that."

Another silence. "I could have come with you."

"No, you couldn't." He couldn't allow Sasuke to see him like this. Couldn't be this raw, this…weak…around Sasuke. Not ever. "It had to be him and I'm grateful. More grateful than I can say that I have him in my life."

"Right. Well. Just come home. Please."

Naruto stood and took a deep, restorative breath. "On my way."

-oOo-

He found Itachi squatting near one of the corpses, staring at it thoughtfully. He rose to his feet as Naruto came over. "So, uh…shall we go?"

"Took the words out of my mouth. I can't remember, but did I break the elevator?"

"Pretty much."

"Hm. Well, it's still the quickest way out of here." Naruto craned his head back to stare at the ceiling far above. "I could dig through that, I suppose. Tunnel to the surface. Would take awhile, so…" He lowered his head again, and gave a half smile. "Elevator shaft it is."

Itachi nodded and let him lead the way. Guy seemed okay now. Maybe not a hundred percent, but definitely much better for having spoken to Sasuke. All things considered, he felt relieved.

* * *

He stood by as Naruto, after carefully tucking something into the smallest pocket in his pants, calmly examined the elevator from the hall, then grabbed the inside edge with both hands. One good, hard yank and the thing was half out of the shaft, plaster and concrete flying. Another yank and the elevator was liberated, trailing cables and sparks of electricity. Itachi straightened from where he'd thrown himself down and waited for the dust to settle. Naruto was just as calmly dusting his hands off as he leaned into the vacated shaft and peered upward. "Looks okay," Naruto said. "Ready?"

" _Jesus_."

"Something wrong?"

"Just out of curiosity, how strong are you?"

Naruto frowned over his shoulder. "Sorry?"

"Nothing, man. I'm good to go."

The climb was atrocious. Naruto insisted Itachi go first, in case he grew tired and fell. After twenty feet, it became obvious that Naruto had the right idea. Itachi could admit that he'd gone soft since his stint in ANBU. His arms and legs quivered with the strain, not only from from climbing vertically for such an extended length of time, but from using his chakra this way. He wasn't used to it. It was one thing to use chakra to aid speed or strength, but using it to bond with the particles of foreign objects had always been difficult for him. Now, after so many years of disuse, it was all he could do to keep from slipping downward every three feet. Naruto wisely kept silent through his frequents stops to rest, but when half an hour had gone by and they weren't even halfway up, he decided to step in.

Itachi was grabbed around the waist and maneuvered quite easily onto Naruto's back. He settled himself without the slightest shred of shame, and hung on as Naruto forewent his chakra completely. He didn't need it to attach himself to the elevator shaft; he simply dug his fingers through the stone and concrete, and climbed that way. As if the shaft were made of nothing more substantial than marshmallows. As if he weren't carrying better than a buck seventy-five on his back.

Itachi's mouth was dry the whole way up, but he couldn't help smiling into the back of Naruto's neck. _Think I love this guy._

* * *

Topside, they exited the Complex and blinked in the afternoon sunlight. For Naruto it was doubly sweet. He felt as if he'd exited the dark part of his entire life, the thing that had shadowed it for so many years. They stood there, faces turned up to the sun, until a vendor cycled over and asked if the Hokage would like to buy something.

They both chose water, and moved to sit on the curb while they drank.

Because Naruto seemed to be in a state of mind that would support conversation now, Itachi said quietly, "Brutal, huh?"

"Extremely."

"Knew you'd pull through, but you scared me there at the end."

Naruto looked down at his empty water bottle. "Felt a little lost without…I don't know, the fear I guess? Was so used to having that year with Danzo be untouchable, and now it's…nothing. Nothing I can't think about, anyway. Still hurts, still scares me, but there's no more power to the memories."

"I know. Felt just like that back at my apartment, when we…when you…" He looked away.

Naruto glanced at him, but didn't comment.

To change the subject, Itachi said, "Guess Sasuke's home waiting for you, ready to make things all better again with the power of his ass hole? Eager to fuck you back to health?"

Naruto laughed. He was feeling better and better. "You say the strangest things. But yes, I guess he is."

Itachi nodded. "Kid is one miserable fuck sometimes."

"Funny. I've always considered him to be a splendid fuck. I'm looking forward to going home." Naruto's grin flashed in the sunlight.

Surprised, and smiling because of it, Itachi threw a playful punch at Naruto's arm. "Nice one."

Seeing the smile, Naruto realized Itachi hadn't shared in the earlier laugh.

"You good?" Itachi asked at length.

Naruto was honest. "No. But I think I will be. In time." He waited a moment. "Itachi, what's wrong?"

"Huh? Nothing. Just glad you're okay. Probably shouldn't have done this, but-"

"Please don't lie to me. I think we've shared too much for that."

No argument there. Itachi looked off to his left, away from Naruto. "Look, I think we accomplished a lot today. Let's just leave it at that."

"Whatever it is, I can handle it. Just tell me. Not knowing will eat me alive."

Itachi cursed silently for several minutes as he tried to see all angles of the situation. A pointless activity since he'd already analyzed it from every conceivable angle before coming out here. Before he'd even spoken to Naruto in his old apartment. He looked at him now. "All right. I was going to wait, let you get your feet under you, but all right." He blew out a breath. "Ever hear of Clause 19?"

"No."

"Didn't think so. Well, like I said, Tsunade told me a bunch of things that night in her office that I _heard_ but that I didn't really give a shit about."

"What sort of things?" Strangely enough, he found this diversion a welcome change from the bruised thoughts of being in the dome again.

"All sorts. Like your dad being The Fourth."

"Oh." He waited to hear why this was at all relevant to their present situation; there was no doubt in his mind that whatever was bothering Itachi was related to this day's events.

"Dude was strong, from what I've read."

"Yes."

"Seriously strong. True talent in the Ninja arts."

"So I've been told."

"You've only been told? You didn't get his files and read for yourself? About either of your parents?"

"…No." That now seemed like an unforgivable oversight.

"Oh, well fuck, man, Minato was the shit. Second I got to TD I looked up all the dirt on my clan that I could find. Especially my parents. But yeah, your dad was something else. Makes a guy proud, you know? Knowing his dad was-"

"Itachi."

The single word effectively silenced the rambling. Itachi refocused himself. "Danzo took him out."

Naruto finally looked away from Itachi's face. He studied a stray cat across the street, where it nosed around a trashcan. "I know."

"So Tsunade was going on and on that night, about Danzo this and Danzo that, and then mentions how she had him assassinated. With Jiraiya's help, but still any assassination order goes to ANBU. This guy took out The Fourth, was able to control your mom, and you for that matter, both of whom were Vessels, and a simple ANBU squad was sent to stop him."

"Jiraiya was with them, though," Naruto frowned. The cat was now spraying the tires of a parked car.

"I looked his ass up too. Jiraiya has stated in numerous reports that his student, your dad, surpassed him by a wide margin. Seemed damned happy about it, too. Come to think, that guy taught you too, didn't he?"

"Yes." A pizza crust lay half beneath a discarded paper plate. Mewling at this find, the cat went to work gnawing on it.

"And Jiraiya, I have since found out, was another strong bastard. I mean… _seriously_. Even so, based on what I read, he wouldn't have lasted a full minute against you."

The cat, having eaten, now sat on its haunches and licked its chops. It did this for a few minutes, apparently satisfied. When it went to work washing itself, Naruto spoke. "What," he said in a low voice, "is Clause 19?"

"It's in the ANBU code of conduct. Clause 19 states, and I quote, 'If data pertaining to a mission, village, citizen, or holder of public office is deemed harmful to the Hokage and his/her ability to discharge his/her duties to the village of Konohagakure, it is incumbent on the ANBU captain to withhold that data in the name of keeping the village safe."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning if there's information that would impair a Hokage's ability to do their job, ANBU has the right to withhold that information."

"That is ridiculous."

"I agree. Antiquated code, but one ANBU lives by nonetheless."

"Information that serious is information the Hokage himself should deal with." The cat had stretched out to nap just behind the tire it sprayed earlier.

"Interesting you should say that. 'Cause, see, when I was digging up your info the other week, I came across that mission report. Buried. Deleted, actually, but I recovered it. Made me think about that night Tsunade disclosed all that junk. It didn't make sense to me then, but like I said, I was thinking about other things when she told me."

_Sasuke and I should get a pet._

Naruto's hand slowly crushed the water bottle. He knew. He could feel it in the tension of Itachi's body. Heard it in the nervous rush of his words. But he needed confirmation just the same. "Say it."

"Danzo's alive."


End file.
